Tales From the Cutting Room Floor: Harry Potter
by EdStargazer
Summary: Various crack and idea kernals that would not survive alone. Many tropes involved and more than occasional Dumbles bashing. October 16, 2014 Two out of Three Ain't Bad
1. Loose Ends at the Bank

There is a huge dangling plot thread at the end of the series. How did Harry manage to avoid the goblins and the fact that he stole something from Gringotts? This is one possible idea.

**Loose Ends with Goblins**

Harry Potter wiped his eyes as he woke in the dorms at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It had been less than a day since what was already being called the Battle of Hogwarts. The wounded and dead were still being cared for in the infirmary and Great Hall so the house dorms had been opened to all the survivors. He remained tired to his bones and sore after his fighting and near death experience the day before but he had too many things to deal with and slowly crawled out of the borrowed bed.

House elves had set up a buffet style table in the dorm common room as the Great Hall remained in use so he sat with a plate of eggs with bacon and sausage to fill up his protesting stomach. A few other Gryffindors and former Gryffindors sat nearby quickly eating before heading downstairs to deal with the aftermath of yesterday. The hoot of a large owl caught Harry's attention as he finished his plate.

A large owl with a Gringotts' symbol around its neck landed beside Harry and held out a leg with a letter attached. Harry took hold of the letter and the owl bowed its head once before leaving. With a slight trepidation, Harry opened the roll of parchment.

_To: Mister Harry James Potter, Wizard_

_Mr. Potter, you are herby summoned to appear at the Office of the Manager for a meeting. Items of_  
><em>mutual interest need to be addressed. Failure to appear or have arrangements to appear within 24 hours<em>  
><em>of receipt of this notice will result in summary judgment against you. Your safe passage is guaranteed<em>  
><em>regardless of the outcome of this meeting.<em>

_Signed, Skinflayer_

_Chief Auditor, Gringotts Wizarding Bank_

Harry sighed at the letter's contents. He knew the goblins would be looking for him, Hermione and Ron over the break in they made back in the spring. He also knew that it needed to be taken care of one way or another and the guarantee of safe passage was enough to let him consider it. He rolled to letter up and headed down to the Great Hall to find Hermione and the Weasley family. He could only find Hermione as the Weasley's were off taking care of Fred's arrangements.

Safe to say, Hermione was livid about Harry's decision to go meet with the goblins right away.

"Harry, it could be a trap! You barely survived the war and now you could get killed by goblins over us breaking into their bank. And your idea of running off alone to meet them? Are you trying to get killed again?" she yelled.

Harry took it all in silence until Hermione finished her rant. "Hermione, I need to do this. If I can get this settled then we won't have to worry about it in the future. You know they won't just drop the issue. Remember what someone compared them to? Those Ferengi chaps from that Yank 'Star Trek' show. It is all about the money to them."

Hermione nodded. At some point, one of the muggle born younger years had compared goblins to Ferengi with the honor of a Klingon. If it involved money or honor they would never let it rest until it was resolved.

"I should go with you, Harry," she insisted.

"No," Harry replied. "This time you can't. The letter is only for me. They can kill you as a thief since it doesn't say you are given safe passage. It only will give safe passage for me."

Hermione growled softly but she knew he was right. Mentally, she added that to his total of being right instead of her. He was up to three times now. She must be slipping.

"You had better get straight back here afterwards. I can cover for your absence as taking care of things but if anything happens I am going to find a way to bring you back to life then kill you myself," Hermione said while poking Harry hard in the chest several times then gave him one of her tight hugs. Harry flinched as he was getting poked but hugged his best friend back while trying to ignore that it felt rather nice.

* * *

><p>Harry took a few minutes to wash up and clean his clothes before apparating to Diagon Alley. He had no robes and little cash money to buy any at this point. He looked at the poem on the lintel of Gringotts and stepped through the doorway. Faking confidence he strode across the lobby past the rebuilt rows of tellers on either side. The head teller who replaced the goblin he had used the Imperious curse on glared down at him as he approached. The goblins at the teller stations all looked at him with various unkind expressions but that was normal for goblins. Stopping at the head teller station he spoke in a solid voice.<p>

"I am Harry Potter. I received a summons this morning to appear before Skinflayer. Please let him know I have arrived. Thank you,"

Silence fell over the lobby. Few wizards would announce so loudly and openly that they were facing Skinflayer. The head teller looked Harry over. He took in the muggle clothing Harry wore. It was clean but well worn and showed signs of being magically repaired. He was tempted to simply send the young man away to be properly attired for meeting with the chief auditor. 'Still, the human has some fortitude to stand up in the lobby and speak loudly he is going to meet with an auditor,' the goblin thought. He made a motion with his hand to a young aide waiting beside him.

"Milktooth, will escort you to Skinflayer. Best of luck in your dealings, Mr. Potter," he said in a slightly respectful tone. Harry nodded slightly before following the goblin he was waved off to. The silence in the lobby continued until Harry was well out of sight.

Harry was shown into a well appointed office with an elderly goblin waiting for him. The auditor was writing on a piece of parchment and politely gestured for Harry to sit as he finished writing his last line. Once the parchment was set aside, the goblin waved his hand and a file pulled itself out of a pile behind him and flew to the desk. The goblin looked over the first few pages in silence as Harry felt his confidence slowly waning.

"I commend you on your prompt arrival, Mr. Potter. Most wizards would try to delay or flee from meeting with an auditor from Gringotts."

"We have a problem, Mr. Potter," Skinflayer continued. "Mere days ago, you and a pair of accomplices came into Gringotts and caused a lot of mischief. Damages in the tens of thousands of gallons were caused. Items were removed from a vault not belonging to you. You cast spells on goblins. You stole a dragon. Any one of these crimes would normally be cause for us to seize all of your vaults and accounts and slay you on the spot."

Harry waited but swallowed nervously in silence as the goblin glared at him.

"The problems we face need resolution. However, taking our rightful and justified course would cause Gringotts more trouble than it is worth. You are a hero, Mr. Potter. The entire world is aware of your actions and it would not be in our best interest to kill you or confiscate your deposits at this time."

Harry forced himself to avoid a sigh of relief and kept his face impassive.

"That being said, how can we deal with these issues?" Skinflayer asked.

"One at a time might be best," Harry said trying to lighten the mood.

Skinflayer held back a bit of admiration for the young man before him and continued.

"We will start with the greatest issues first; removing items from a vault not belonging to you. What did you take and why?" Skinflayer asked.

Harry gathered his courage. "We came here to get the cup of Helga Hufflepuff that was being stored in the vault of Bellatrix LeStrange. It was a horcrux holding a piece of the soul of Tom Riddle also known as Lord Voldemort that we needed to destroy. We had made a deal with Griphook to acquire it from the vault and in recompense we would surrender the Sword of Gryffindor. Instead, ee took the sword and ran calling us thieves."

Skinflayer arched an eyebrow at that. This was information not on his parchments. A small light on his desk remained glowing green so he knew that Harry was telling the truth as far as he knew it.

"Interesting, Mr. Potter. I will need to investigate your dealings with Griphook but if true it would absolve you as being a thief as you had made a fair bargain. The removal of a horcrux would have been carried out by our cursebreakers had we known of it. Such items are forbidden to be stored in Gringotts vaults but then wizards rarely obey many of the rules as far as that is concerned. That is why a listing of stored items is required as standard policy. It is a means to protect both Gringotts and the vault holder from liability. Also, as this item was not on the master list for the vault in question, then nothing was officially 'stolen' from the vault," Skinflayer said as he made a mark on the parchment.

"However, you did steal a dragon, destroyed the main lobby and flew off with it in full view of Diagon Alley. It is to your benefit that it returned on its own three days ago, tired and hungry. It has been much easier to deal with since its 'time off' than ever before to the goblins that feed it."

"You are being quite forgiving today Chief Auditor. Might I inquire why?" Harry asked trying to get an idea on how to get out of this alive and intact. Skinflayer ignored the question.

"Regarding, the casting of spells on goblins. The Thief's Downfall shows that it removed an Imperious curse on the head teller and countered a polyjuice potion on one Miss Granger. After departing the LeStrange vault, you fired stunners at the guards prior to your theft of the dragon. Why only fire stunners at the guards, Mr. Potter? Why the Imperious?"

"The Imperious was due to the head teller was not going to let us down to the vaults. I felt it necessary to do so at the time. Even Griphook was about to go back on his deal at that point and it was the only way to get past him. The polyjuice was to have 'Bellatrix' come into the bank and having her wand helped with that. The stunners we fired were simply to stop the guards. We did not wish them harm and we only looking to escape. Now, back to my unanswered question. You want something from me," Harry stated.

Skinflayer nodded slowly as Harry spoke before responding. "You certainly could have used lethal spells as you have shown the capacity to do so in the recent fighting. Their pride was hurt but then losing to a wizard in a fight will never do a goblin's reputation any good. According to our internal investigations, I can have authorized documents saying there was no lasting harm done to any goblin by you. The report can say it was all the work of Riddle when he stormed the bank after your departure. That is if you cooperate or would you prefer to die?"

"Chief Auditor, I have faced down a Dark Lord and his minions. I know you work best at intimidating wizards but I am used to more than this. If the goblins wanted me dead, I would be dead already. That I am still living means you want something from me that is not directly related to charges or damages. The damage in the vault areas was slight and can be paid for simply enough. The lobby is already in full working order once more after being destroyed mere days ago. What do you want from me?" Harry spoke a bit more forcefully.

Skinflayer sighed and looked at his parchments for several minutes before sighing and looking up resigned to talk.

"It's the gnomes. The gnomes of Zurich announced yesterday morning they are reopening the London branch of their bank after nearly thirty years. Already we have lost ten percent of our deposits and asset management contracts. We are expecting a run on the bank within a week once things calm down and the dead are buried from the war. If we deal with you in the standard fashion and seize your assets it will destroy trust in Gringotts completely. We need to resolve the issue favorably to show the public we are safe and secure. Your public break-in, Riddle's attack and our dealings with the puppet Ministry as legitimate caused our reputation took a severe hit are many wizards looking for safer places to bank."

Harry nodded as he understood the problem now.

"Might I make a suggestion, Chief Auditor?" Harry said with a smile. After the goblin nodded, he outlined a plan.

* * *

><p>Two hours later, a quick press conference was held.<p>

Harry stood up before the assembled reporters and spoke somewhat nervously.

"I have come to make a statement and thank the goblins for their cooperation in ending the war. The recent break-in committed by myself, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley was in reality a set up. We were acting with the full knowledge of the upper management of Gringotts. They could not tell the employees it was a set up due to other security leaks in the form of puppet Ministry overseers. They could not openly help us but we had discovered an artifact that was preventing the defeat of Tom Riddle hidden on one of their vaults. They risked a great deal to provide help to us. As my reputation was being smeared by the Death Eaters already, we came up with a plan to let the puppet Ministry think we had broken into the bank to steal something. We acquired the object and destroyed it paving the way to our ultimate victory."

"Mr. Potter!" called out one reporter. "How can you claim it was a set up when you brazenly flew out on a dragon?" he asked.

Harry smiled at the reporter. "What could be more convincing that we had broken in that to fly out in the middle of the day on a dragon? It would be difficult for the puppet Ministry to claim the goblins were helping us with something that obvious happening. The dragon has already been returned and is once again keeping the vaults of Gringotts safe."

"But there were reports of fighting and several statements were made that security was breeched," another reporter spoke out.

"Yes, Riddle did attack once we had left the premises. Many goblins were killed in a breech of the lobby but the vaults themselves were never breeched. The rebuilding has taken advantage of several policies the goblins were planning on upgrading anyway. No security is completely foolproof but Gringotts works constantly to foil thieves and better their security to keep your deposits and assets safe," Harry said with his best 'trust me' smile.

* * *

><p>"You should be careful Harry or you'll end up in politics. The public bought that load of tripe you were pushing," Hermione said that evening after Harry had told her everything.<p>

Harry chuckled wryly. "No, I wouldn't. Even after I saved their bloody bank the goblins still charged me for repairs and renovations on the areas our escape damaged. They moved a copy of their 'Thieves Downfall' to the front door to stop anyone entering invisibly, controlled or polyjuiced from even getting to the tellers and charged ME the cost of setting it up."

"Poor you," Hermione replied sarcastically. "How big of a dent did that put into your assets? Now that you actually know what you inherited and was in there; it is not even a tenth of what Sirius left you. Not to mention the Potter accounts are still untouched."

Harry grumbled now. "Don't get me started on those. I had to sign an agreement to leave the Potter accounts managed by the goblins and for the next century they get twenty five percent of the profits generated by them instead of the standard ten percent. And when Ron found out how much I was worth he went on another rant on how rich I was.

Hermione just laughed.


	2. Contract Trouble

I have read many versions of the forced marriage contracts on Harry, but I have never seen anyone pull this result. If they had done so, I have not seen it.

**Marriage Contracts**

Harry Potter was sick and tired of Genevra Weasley. The girl had been going on for years that she was going to marry him. He ignored it for the most part but would remind her every month or so that they were not going to be married. Harry had a good solid romantic relationship with one Hermione Jane Granger since the end of third year.

Ginny, as Genevra was more commonly known, had a slightly older brother named Ron. The red headed prat was constantly trying to break up Harry and Hermione since they revealed their relationship in fourth year. But his best efforts were for naught after he went too far one day and managed to hex himself into the hospital with a spell beyond his capabilities early in his fifth year. He ruptured his magical core and was forced to live like a squib from that point on.

For her part, Ginny was an evil little girl. She had to morals of a hooker with none of the income. She constantly tried to hang on Harry or make him jealous by sleeping around. She would try to hurt or embarrass Hermione at every turn then attempt to look as the wounded party due to her recent claims of betrothal. Few people bought the act except for the purebloods to which betrothals were a way of life.

* * *

><p>The focus of our tale turns next to the Manipulative Old Bastard, one Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. No one knew how he ended up with such a long name when his siblings only had a single with no middle name. He was a schemer through and through. He coveted the ancestral wealth and power that Harry was due to inherit and he wanted a piece of the action. He named himself the guardian of the infant Harry after he allowed the boy's true guardian to be sent to prison without a trial.<p>

Once he had proclaimed the position of guardian for himself, he hatched a plan as the goblins still would not allow him to touch the funds, properties or artifacts that were due to young Harry when he came of age. Even the boy's trust vault had been locked down until Harry had begun school. Albus wanted that money. He made a bargain with a loyal follower that would take years to come to pass. His minion, one Molly Weasley, would marry off her daughter to Harry then get rid of him once a child was born.

Here is where our tale takes a stranger twist. Albus lacked the right to create a contract of betrothal on the part of Harry. Using the might of the legendary Elder Wand, he confounded a contract and was able to create a binding betrothal that did not burn itself to ash upon being signed. He laughed in a non maniacal manner (at least that is what he told himself) as Molly began to feed her daughter tales of her future husband and their betrothal.

Harry and Hermione continued to date each other and fell deeper in love as fifth year progressed. The world was going crazy around them but they felt they could handle whatever came about together. That is until A.P.W.B.D. sprung his surprise on the pair.

"Ah, Harry, I am glad you and Hermione came quickly to my summons. I have good news for you and bad news for Miss Granger. The fact is that I need to have the pair of you cease and desist any further romantic relationship together."

Naturally, both teens were angry at the meddling in their personal lives and were about to protest when the aged Headmaster continued.

"You see my boy that Miss Weasley was indeed telling the truth about you and her being betrothed. You have been for over a decade," the old man said in smug tones. 'Damn uppity mudblood thinks she can stop my plans with simple love. The nerve of her. I'd have her potioned and married off to that buffoon Ronald if he had not been a moron and lost his magic.'

Harry sat in shock for a few moments at the M.O.B.'s revelation as Hermione clutched his hand as tightly as she could. Anger and resentment bubbled up in him as he thought about the simple damning statement.

"I will not marry that red headed dorm broomstick. I have already discussed this with Hermione and as soon as I am old enough we are going to get married," Harry snarled at the old man with a look of pure hate on his face.

Dumbledore simply smiled as his eyes twinkled. "You are contracted to wed Miss Weasley and on your sixteenth birthday the contract will be final. No time for running off for a muggle ceremony at Gretna Green either."

Harry simply turned and gestured Hermione to leave the office before him then walked out down the small stairs.

"I did not give you permission to leave my office, Harry," Dumbledore said smugly. "The gargoyle will not let you pass. Now come back up here -"

The old man nearly fell out of his chair when an explosion rocked the tower his office was in. He stood and hurried down the small flight of stairs to see the shattered remains of his gargoyle. The head was whimpering in fear as Harry and Hermione strolled off arm in arm.

"What happened? Dumbledore asked the disembodied head.

"Miss Granger conjured something she called 'nitroglycerine' on my chest and Mr. Potter hit it with a bludgeoning hex. Those two are dangerous!" the head wailed.

Weeks dragged on as tales of Harry's destruction of the Headmaster's gargoyle grew in proportion to the telling. The Weasley twins would bow down asking how it had been done but all Harry or Hermione would say was "Better living through chemistry. You should look it up."

* * *

><p>The term ended and summer arrived. Harry was dragged off to the Burrow to keep him 'safe' (and captive) while Hermione was not allowed anywhere near the Weasley home. Harry spent his time holed up in Percy's old room and ignoring the advances of Ginny. Mrs. Weasley was livid in her admonishments to the boy but he just treated it as living with more numerous Dursleys.<p>

Dawn broke on the morning of July 31st. Harry was dragged down the stairs in a full body bind to a tent set up in the yard by the manipulators. Ginny was waiting in a wedding gown and smiling in her insipid manner while Dumbledore and Mrs. Weasley were grinning at how well their plan had come together. An official from the Ministry was waiting and thinking of the payout he was promised for being here today to finalize the contract. Nearby, they could see Hermione waiting just outside the wards of the Burrow with a frown on her face.

"Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley, I am here to place the official acceptance seal on this parchment, activating this betrothal and formalizing the marriage. Do you have any vows to say to one another?" he asked in a pleasant tone.

"This is my dream come true," squealed Ginny while Harry just glared as he was in a full body bind.

"Well I think that is about enough. Please seal the marriage," Dumbledore commanded the official.

The wizard pulled out his official stamp and slammed it down on the betrothal contract. "I declare this contract complete and the marriage in effect. Let all know this union is for life and unbreakable."

Ribbons of light and magic began to stream out of the paper to wrap around Ginny. However, the ribbons of light bypassed Harry and headed straight for Dumbledore. They wrapped around him and flashed into the form of a wedding band around his finger.

All the Weasleys look on stunned. Harry was momentarily forgotten so he burst free from his binds and began to laugh.

Dumbledore was shocked. He tried to speak but he could not find any words. "How?" was all he managed.

"My brilliant girlfriend and soon to be wife figured it out a long time ago, Headmaster. You were never my official guardian in spite of all of your posturing and bluster. Sirius Black is as he was never convicted of a crime or legally stripped of those rights. You had no right to enact a betrothal on me and all you manipulations did was place you into the contract instead as you had signed it. The only thing is it had to wait for my birthday to come into effect. Do enjoy married life, Headmaster. May you receive everything you deserve," Harry said to the old man.

Harry turned to Ginny who was simply staring at him. "Oh, do enjoy your wedding night, Mrs. Dumbledore. Let us know how it went will you? After all, the magic will enforce consummation quite soon. You and Hermione can compare notes when we get back to Britain in a few years," Harry told the newlywed Ginny with a laugh.

"Dobby!" Harry cried out.

"Dobby is here Master Harry. Is it time to get you and Miss Grangy to your appointment?" the house elf asked.

"Yes, Dobby. I don't think we will be welcome here any longer," Harry said as he took the elf's hand and disappeared with a pop. The pair reappeared next to Hermione outside of the wards. After a quick hug, the trio popped out and were not heard from in Britain until the reports of the Dark Lord Voldemort's demise were announced.

* * *

><p>Albus and Ginny did not have a happy marriage. While the magic Dumbledore placed on the betrothal enforced nightly consummation until conception of an heir, there was never any issue. Dumbledore's age had rendered him nearly sterile but he had retained enough ability to keep the magic working. The odds of a pregnancy happening were just too low. Ginny never recovered mentally from her failed 'wedding'. She spent hours each day just sitting in a corner rocking slowly with her legs pulled to her chest and arms holding them close dreading the coming night and another round of sex. The prematurely gray girl was not sure if she looked forward to her monthly cycle for the break in the nightly routine or the fact that it arrived and she was subject to another month of old man sex.<p>

"So old. So wrinkly," she whimpered each morning.

Dumbledore's reputation took a major hit after the manipulations were revealed. The fact that he married the Weasley daughter was front page news thanks to Rita Skeeter and her poisoned pen. The aged 'Leader of the Light' was found to be not so light after all. No parents wanted the 'Old Pedo-dore' near their children and removed from his positions by a popular revolt of Wizarding Britain. It took two long years before his nightly exertions took their toll on his aged body and he died in the middle of another magically enforced attempt at siring an heir.

Harry and Hermione fled Britain to the USA to finish their education. They rallied over one thousand of the muggleborn and half blood ex-pats of Wizarding Britain to return with them to deal with the Death Eater problem once and for all. The Daily Prophet tried to paint the couple in a bad light as a Dark Lord and Lady but they had observers from the ICW with them at every step.

The rest of the magical world was poised to enter the 21st century with the mundane world but they needed to drag Britain out of the 19th century first. The oppressed majority non pureblood population still in Britain joined in and the Ministry fell in days. The British Monarch, Elizabeth the Second, gave Her blessing to a revamped Wizengamont as an elected body adjacent to the rest of Parliament. Pureblood biased laws were written off the books and equality took hold for the masses.

All Harry had to say on his actions in his memoirs was this sarcastic comment;

"It was all for the Greater Good."


	3. Redneck

All too often we see Draco making fun of the breeding and blood status of the non-purebloods. Imagine if the situation was reversed for once?

**You Might be a Pureblood**

Hermione say down next to Harry in the Great Hall. The alerts on Sirius Black were keeping people antsy but she seemed to be in a good mood today. One of the fifth year muggleborns had a charmed CD player in the dorms and had played a recording they had picked up in the USA that past summer. While most did not get the jokes on it, the muggleborns and many half bloods were laughing wildly at it all week.

Draco came wandering up with a sneer on his face. He was preparing his latest revenge on Potter when Hermione spotted him and burst out laughing. The white blond boy looked puzzled as Hermione nearly fell off her bench in near hysterics.

"What is so funny Granger?" Draco demanded.

Hermione took a few deep breaths and composed herself.

"Um, Malfoy, I have a couple of questions for you. I heard that you can trace your pureblood heritage back a long way, right?" she forced herself to ask calmly.

"Yes, I can Granger. My bloodline is pure going back over 20 generations," he boasted proudly.

"So, um, with so few lines that, um, pure there must be times when second cousins or even first cousins marry each other. I mean if no one else is available, right?" she pressed suppressing laughter.

"If needed, yes that does happen. What is so funny?" Draco demanded even louder this time.

"Redneck," Hermione muttered under her breath but loud enough for a few other muggleborn Gryffindors to hear. The ones that did and had heard the CD in the dorm began to chuckle and laugh as well.

"So, you could say that a family reunion might be a good place to scout out possible spouses?" Hermione asked next.

Draco nodded in agreement. "It has been done before," he said getting worried at the laughter growing at the Gryffindor table.

"Redneck," she muttered again before talking louder and asking. "So if someone doesn't marry another pureblood who might be related fairly closely to them, such as a muggleborn, they would be an embarrassment and kicked out of the family?"

"Naturally," Draco responded confidently again. "We need to keep the bloodlines pure"

Hermione was red in the face now from holding back laughter.

"So, you are saying that if your girlfriend turns out to be your aunt, you might be a pureblood?" She got out before bursting out laughing. The rest of the Great Hall looked over at the Gryffindor table now as over a dozen of them starting howling out in laughter.

Draco was quite confused by now and started to back up. Crabbe and Goyle followed behind him.

A Gryffindor further down the table called out next. "If you think a family get together is a place to pick up chicks, you might be a pureblood."

"Oh, if your family tree doesn't fork, you might be a pureblood," came from another muggleborn.

"If after an arranged marriage, you learn you are your own grandfather, you might be a pureblood!" came from a firstie at the Hufflepuff table next to them. This set off more and louder laughing and catcalls as Draco turned and fled. Ron finally looked up from his breakfast and wiped the food off his face and brushed down his robes.

Harry leaned over to Hermione and whispered in her ear. "If your eating habits scare a house elf, you might be a pureblood," he said.

The bushy haired girl was still laughing as she nodded wildly before sliding back off the bench and hitting the floor. She chuckled a few more times before deciding that today was a very good day indeed.

Most of the purebloods simply looked on in confusion.

* * *

><p>Jeff Foxworthy released his first 'You might be a Redneck' album in June of '93. That is plenty of time for it to have been heard or acquired by a muggleborn for this to occur in PoA<p> 


	4. Dark Lord ?

What really makes a Dark Lord? Is it some set of rules you can clearly and without question define what makes one Light or Dark?

* * *

><p>The Order of the Phoenix was preparing to meet in Grimmould Place when Harry Potter peeked in the door. He noticed that the Headmaster had not arrived yet nor had Professor Snape. Good, that suited his plans just fine. He stepped into view and looked at the two dozen or so people sitting and standing in the large room.<p>

"Harry, you should be upstairs with the other children," Molly Weasley said to him once she spotted the black haired boy.

"I will," Harry replied. "I was just working on an extra credit project I was hoping to turn in for DADA this coming term and I had a few questions."

"What kind of questions? What subject?" Remus Lupin asked interest in the boy's project as he had been a DADA instructor for Harry in the past.

"It's about Dark Lords and their minions. Common traits that most have or are supposed to have. Something that can let people know if they are being recruited by one," Harry said almost dismissively.

"Let's hear it then, boy," Moody growled out.

Harry nodded to the old Auror and began.

"Dark Lords in general are looking for power in the world. They will use any means necessary to obtain it, both direct and subtle. Most have a small following of 'true believers' with a larger circle of hangers on that are in it for their own gain, but still loyal to the Dark Lord."

"A good center point of your opening, Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall.

"Most Dark Lords are charismatic, tend to be good speakers and able to smile while lying through their teeth," Harry added in with a slight smile.

"Not always, Harry. He-who-must-not-be-named is quite disgusting to look at," Hestia Jones added in.

Harry looked at the Auror. "But not at first. He was quite dashing and handsome as a young man. Before he took the name of Lord Voldemort he was simply Tom Marvolo Riddle, a half blood orphan. His parents were a muggle and a witch."

Most of the Order looked shocked at Harry's casual statement.

"Are you certain of that information Mr. Potter," Moody growled at the teen.

"Quite certain. His shade told me of it down in the Chamber of Secrets when I saved Ginny from him and the basilisk. Rearrange the letters in his name 'Tom Marvolo Riddle' and you get 'I am Lord Voldemort'. The shade showed it to me myself in fire letters. I told the Headmaster all about it afterwards."

Several Order members frowned at this. They had not been told this vital piece of information.

"Dark Lords tend to create what muggles refer to as a 'cult of personality' about themselves. They set themselves up to be the beacon of a brighter tomorrow or the champion of the rights of the oppressed or some other such noble cause to a portion of the population they want to draw support from. That is what Grindlewald and Hitler had done back during the Second World War.

"People who follow this idea tend to be the most loyal and will actually feel bad if they fail to keep up to the standards set by the leader. However, the leader is not reciprocal on this loyalty. They will allow their followers to be killed or imprisoned if it furthers the goals the Dark Lord has. No one is vital except for they themselves. If a sacrifice must be made, it will always be the minion that suffers and never the Dark Lord."

This brought out a few nods and a few troubled looks.

"Dark Lords will hoard information as they grow in power. They will only tell their followers what they need to know in order to accomplish the specific task ahead of them. This is both as a means of control and of preventing the group from being destroyed if found out. It also sets the leader up as the source of all information and the followers must look to him for guidance instead of simply knowing for themselves. Knowledge is power and whoever holds the needed knowledge holds all the power."

A few more nods and a few more troubled looks.

"The followers or minions of a Dark Lord tend to fall into specific groups or personality types. The True Believers are the most loyal of all. To them, the leader can do no wrong. Every word from his or her mouth is gospel and to be obeyed without question. These are the ones that will die for him most easily but also the last ones to lose faith in the person.

"Next, are what I call the Faithful. They are the ones that follow the stated purpose of the Dark Lord. Like with Riddle and his 'Pureblood Agenda'. They are not as fanatical but they follow because they believe in what the person is saying as much as the person saying it. They want their beliefs to be the one the world is following.

The next group is what I refer to as the Opportunists. They might or might not believe in the Dark Lord's ideals but they go along and pay lip service to the cause in order to benefit from the rise to power. As long as the Opportunist gains from being a follower, they will remain loyal and obedient to the Dark Lord but will be the first to hold back when things go badly and abandon the Dark Lord if things are looking quite bad to them and ultimately their continued benefit.

The final group is the plain Thugs. They exist anywhere. They follow along simply to revel in the mayhem. They are foot soldiers and cannon fodder for the Dark Lord.

"Interesting points so far Mr. Potter," McGonagall said in a low thoughtful voice.

"Thank you Professor. I had one more section I was working on before I have any questions. After the Dark Lord attains power, how they hold onto it. There have not been many Dark Lords who consolidated power in the books I had available so I borrow from muggle history for this.

"Once a Dark Lord gains power, there are two paths they can follow to holding it. Brutal or Benevolent. Brutal is fairly self explanatory. They go on a reign of terror, striking down and quashing any resistance to their rule. They hunt down undesirables and eliminate them are a group. Normally it is the group that the Dark Lord used as a target in their rise to power. Once the target group is destroyed, the Dark Lord finds a newer target to focus their minions on. This type is eventually deposed through violence and counter revolution.

The Benevolent path is much more sinister. They gain power over time but then they make changes to the society itself along the way. They become the model that people with to emulate. They offer education but only to a certain point. The ones that show promise of being a future threat are weeded out and quietly pushed to attain less than their potential. Those that do not are forced out of society, brought under a more forceful type of control or simply have an accident and disappear. Educational standards are lowered and people grow more ignorant. No one is allowed to suffer but no one is allowed to soar either.

They are given free speech but the Dark Lord controls the press and what they read. They are given free elections but the Dark Lord controls the candidates and the political agenda. They are given the right to do things for themselves but are encouraged to let the leader take care of them. The people can be anything they wish to be but are subtly lulled into being sheep. Innovation is stifled. Change is looked on as a bad thing. New ideas are seen dangerous and free thought is pure treason. People in the end never notice all of this because the Dark Lord in already in charge of the media, the government and the schools. They support him because they have been trained to do so since birth and never question things. In the end, it takes a second Dark Lord to generate enough change to get society to see what is happening.

"When asked why they did what they did the benevolent Dark Lords tend to fall back on one simple premise, It was all for the Greater Good."

The silence in the room lasted until Harry spoke again after a full minute.

"But then, that is exactly what Grindlewald said as well, wasn't it?"

Harry turned and left the room.

"Oh my," McGonagall whispered.

"Indeed," said Remus.

Nymphadora Tonks just looked at the teachers and said "What?"

Her fellow Aurors on the Order of the Phoenix hung their heads. Moody growled in his throat. The oldest members of the Order, those in their 70's and up looked the most troubled.

The silence was broken by the sound of the floo and a pair of footsteps drawing close.

"Ah, everyone is here," Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Order of Merlin, First Class, Supreme Mugwump of the ICW, Chief Wizard of the Wizengamot, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Leader of the Order of the Phoenix said in a pleasant tone.

The assembled members looked at him quietly and his sparkling eyes over half moon glasses as Severus Snape stalking in behind him and glared at everyone.

"Lemon drop anyone?" he asked in a mild tone.

* * *

><p>This idea never got past this point. as far as being written goes. I had weveral ideas to follow up on but never did.<p>

Every revolutionary or progressive person in magical society could potential be labelled as a 'Dark Lord'. As one Jedi is known for saying, 'from a certain point of view'

Dumbles does not need to be Minister. He already controls the legislature, the courts, the education system, contact with the rest of the world and is 'beloved by all'. Most of the problems in British Wizarding society can be traced back to him and his 'Greater good' in one way or another.

Siome points on which OotP members fall into what category  
>True Believer: Hagrid, Molly, Tonks<br>Faithful: Most of the rest, most of the Aurors fight against Riddle but not always for Dummbles  
>Opportunists: Dung da thief. Snape<br>Thugs: Moody fits best here but just slightly more than being a part of Faithful due ot his paranoia

Author's note: People looking for my NAruto stories to update. I am getting a few words in a day. My current job is gone at the end of June and I am looking for a new one. that kind of halts much attempts at writing as bills need to be paid and this does not pay them. The mind rarely relaxes enough to be creative.


	5. Oath

The Leaving Feast at Hogwarts was the highlight of the year for most students. The House Cup and Quidditch Cups being awarded. The time to enjoy the company of friends before parting for the summer.

But this year, fifth year student Hermione Jean Granger was deep in thought as she tried to puzzle out where her best friend Harry Potter had wandered off to. It had been a week since the disaster at the Ministry of Magic and the public return of Tom Riddle, aka the Dark Lord, Lord Voldemort. Harry had lost his godfather in the battle preceding the fight the Headmaster had with the Dark Lord in the atrium of the Ministry.

The mysterious owl that arrived late the night before had the symbol of Gringotts Wizarding Bank on the harness of the bird so she knew it would be one more unpleasant thing for Harry to deal with. Harry had walked out of the Gryffindor Common Room after reading the letter and had not been seen since. It had been nearly twenty four hours since that moment and the bushy haired girl was worried.

* * *

><p>The overly large doors of the Great Hall suddenly slammed open pushed by a massive gust of wind. There, in the now open doorway, stood Harry Potter. The air pressure from the wind exiting the Great Hall made his robes billow slightly like it was some dramatic movie moment. The teenager no longer had a haunted look on his face but appeared rather determined as he strode up the center of the Hall between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables toward the staff table on the far end of the room.<p>

The black haired teen stopped in the open space before the end table and glared at the Headmaster who sat looking placidly as he waited for Harry to speak.

"To the wizard known as Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, I declare you an oath breaker and decree that your magic be held in abeyance until I have judged how severe your punishment for such a transgression shall be," Harry stated in a voice that carried around the Hall.

The aged man had not expected such a declaration from the student and slumped back on his throne as his magic stopped flowing. His breath became raspy and labored as the extreme age of the man came to bear on his body without the support of his magic.

"Mr. Potter!" came the cry from the Deputy Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall. "What are you doing?"

"I am making sure that old manipulator doesn't interfere in what I need to present right now. I have no desire for him to pull his wand out and cast compulsions at me from under the table," Harry replied.

The teen then turned and glared the other direction at the Potions instructor, Severus Snape. "If you fire that stunner, your precious master will die, Snivellous. He has about an hour before his magic being frozen does him permanent harm," the boy warned the stringy haired potioneer.

The sneer on the teachers face was evident but he lowered his wand.

"Good, now we can get into the specifics of the matter," Harry said in a cold voice. He turned to look out over the student body of Hogwarts and spoke loud enough for his voice to carry.

"In addition to his being an oath breaker, I name Albus Percival Wulfric Brain Dumbledore to be a liar, a thief, a kidnapper, a facilitator of child abuse and last but certainly not least, a tacky dresser."

The last comment got a small twitter of laughter that quickly stopped.

The glare of McGonagall was undiminished but she looked over at the gasping Headmaster's lurid orange and purple robes and conceded the final point. "Those are all serious charges, Mr. Potter. Even I must admit the tacky dresser charge does have merit. Be that as it may, the charge of oath breaker seems legitimate or the Headmaster's magic would not be bound so at this moment. As no one can do anything for him until you pronounce your judgment, please proceed with all haste."

Harry nodded to McGonagall. He conjured a small table and set a number of papers down upon it. He turned and spoke again to the assembled students.

"Several days ago, my godfather was killed during my friends and my adventure in the Ministry of Magic. This triggered a number of effects. First and most importantly, it named my as an emancipated adult within our world. This also allowed me to receive my inheritance as the last scion of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter. Gringotts notified me of this situation last night once the paperwork had been finalized and requested an immediate meeting. The other information in their missive is none of your concern but it caused me to depart to London at once."

"At my arrival in the bank, the goblins were most distressed. My emancipation had revealed a large number of fraudulent transactions on the part of the Headmaster here concerning the Black and the Potter accounts and vaults. Transactions he never had the legal authority to make but managed to do so via implied authority as the Supreme Mugwump. How was this revealed you might ask? Well I shall tell you."

"My parents had been in hiding from the Dark Tosser Tom Riddle also known as Lord Voldemort with the infant me as the target of his ire. Being the scion of an Ancient and Noble house, my father had a will prepared as is customary in all the old houses." This comment brought a few nods of agreement from the purebloods in the student body. He last had it updated on my first birthday.

However, under the authority of one Albus Dumbledore, my parent's will was sealed and disregarded until I was to come of age. Perhaps longer if I had not been told about it by the goblins. I have brought a copy of the last filed Will and Testament of James Charles Potter with me after a copy was provided by Gringotts Legal Services. Miss Granger, would you do me the honor of reading the marked passages?"

Hermione looked lost for a moment as Harry held out the papers to her but she gathered her courage. She stood and walked to the front and took the roll of parchment.

"'I, James Charles Potter being of sound mind and body declare this to be my Last Will and Testament. All previous versions of this Will are hereby voided. No updates or codicils shall be acceptable unless given under my hand and witnessed within the confines of Gringotts.'

'Should my wife survive me, I leave all titles, monies, properties and miscellaneous possessions owned by our family in her care as Regent to be provided to our son and heir on his majority.'

'Should my wife precede or jointly accompany me in death, I then leave all titles, monies, properties and miscellaneous possessions owned by our family save the bequests following to my only child and heir, Harry James Potter. He is to be allowed access to non monetary items and our personal effects beginning on his eleventh birthday to have a chance to know about his parents.'"

Hermione cleared her throat as she skipped down past the list of bequests as Harry had indicated she do.

"'Regarding the care of my son and heir Harry, I leave the following list of names who have agreed to take him into their homes and appropriate Powers of Attorney are currently filed in both the Magical and Muggle world for his custody. All listed have sworn oaths to act in Harry's best interest and to raise him as an upstanding member of our society.'"

McGonagall looked at the Headmaster who flinched and shuddered at this revelation. Hermione continued.

"'Sirius Orion Black, godfather and second cousin by blood to my son. His sworn oath accompanies this document.'"

"'Alice Longbottom, godmother. Her sworn oath accompanies this document.'"

"'Andromeda Tonks nee Black, second cousin by blood. Her sworn oath accompanies this document.'"

""Should these agreed upon guardians be unavailable or unable to fulfill their oaths by death or the revocation of rights by legal means, custody will fall to a magical person or family of good standing provided they take the same oath as the listed guardians. No person or family can be chosen if they have sworn fealty to the criminal known as Lord Voldemort or bear his brand.'"

"'Should no appropriate magical guardian be found and it becomes necessary to place Harry in the mundane world for his protection, I leave the following instructions. My wife's blood sister, Petunia Dursley nee Evans has rejected guardianship and any relation as kith or kin to us and my son. I do not wish for my son to be placed there. Instead, I name our family friend William Daniel Granger as guardian. His appropriate Power of Attorney accompanies this Will. His daughter has shown magical abilities and I consider William to be a good choice for returning Harry to the Magical world when it is time for his schooling.'"

Hermione was forced to clear her throat again after reading that sentence but pressed onward.

"'Should William Daniel Granger be unavailable, and all other means exhausted, both magical and mundane, Harry is to be placed under the Queen's care in one of England's orphanages.'"

"'We the undersigned, do witness and acknowledge this Last Will and Testament. We pledge our Oath to uphold these wishes are accomplished to the best of our ability,

(Signed) Sirius Orion Black, Godfather.

(Signed) Alice Longbottom, Godmother.

(Signed) Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore'"

Hermione paused and looked back at the Headmaster and read the damning word that followed.

"'Executor'"

"Thank you Hermione," Harry said in a low voice as he took back the document from his friend.

"Executor, Headmaster? Seems you violated your oath by ordering the will sealed shortly after my parent's death. A shame the penalties needed to be called by an involved party or you would have died right then. But you had other ideas in mind didn't you? I doubt any of them could be considered MY best interest. You had me taken from my godfather's arms by Hagrid shortly after their deaths. I hold Hagrid himself blameless in this regard as I believe he was unaware of your plans. That is kidnapping on your orders Headmaster."

"You did something to compel my aunt to take me into her home after you left my infant self on her doorstep like a daily newspaper delivery. However, they fought whatever it was you did to them. They did not want me there and a decade of abuse followed that criminal decision of yours."

"Mr. Potter, it is not your place to decide if the Headmaster's actions are criminal or not," McGonagall exclaimed..

"Why not?" Harry snapped at his teacher. "He approved the order to send my godfather to Azkaban without a trial or hearing of any kind. No, he let someone else sign it so he could claim ignorance. After all, he could not be seen as throwing an innocent man into hell. But you forgot one detail. Chief Wizard is also the top authority of the courts in our society. His deliberate inaction on that matter _is_ approval of the action."

Several nods and a mutter of agreement sounded from the older students.

"Potter always demanding attention. When word of this gets out and how you attacked the Headmaster, you will be seen as the next Dark Lord. Leveling false charges of abuse against Albus Dumbledore will see you in Azkaban," Snape grunted.

"False charges? You saw my memories. You should know better than that Snivellous. But to show I can prove my charges I will do so in front of everyone. No attempts at coercion or lies on my part." Harry snarled back.

The teen pulled apart his tie and deftly opened to top two buttons on his uniform shirt. He slid his hands into the opened neck and took hold of the robe, shirt and undershirt and pulled them off over his head. Many gasps were heard as his back was revealed to the students first. Scar tissue criss-crossed Harry's back. A number of older students moved to shield the firsties from the view and a few younger Hufflepuff girls fainted.

Hermione knew about the scars and Harry's shame of them. To bare his entire upper body like this was something she never thought he would be able to do. His anger at Snape's comment had overcome his shame.

Harry noticed Snape looking away from the spectacle so he spoke. "Not as pampered and princely as you like to claim, is it Snivellous? Are you afraid to look and be proven wrong? Again?"

"Please, Harry," came a soft voice from the Headmaster. "Why do this?"

Harry spun and frowned at the Headmaster.

"That should be my question to you Headmaster. Why did you do all of this? In the name of some worthless prophecy by a hack trying to get a job; you lied to me, stole my parents things from me. They are in your posession and should have been returned to me nearly five years ago but all I have seen is my father's cloak. You left me for a decade in an abusive household and force me to return there each summer for more. All for some grand purpose I suppose."

"You kept information hidden that could have changed so much. Cedric died because you kept things hidden. Sirius died because you kept critical information hidden. Neville's parents, my parents, Ron's uncles, how many lives have been destroyed since that night in the Hogs Head? How many lives can be laid at your feet because you felt it was for 'the Greater Good'? "

"But that is the point, isn't it Headmaster. Your 'Greater Good'. You 'friend' Gellert believed in that too. All of your plans in your youth. My mother's notes in the family vault were quite enlightening."

"No," whispered Dumbledore. "Please."

"Please? Please what? Please tell them all? Which part? The part where you planned with your lover in your youth, Gellert Grindlewald. Tell them of your development of the idea of 'the Greater Good'? Purebloods ruling everything. No place in your plans for such 'lesser' things as half bloods or muggleborn in your ideal society except as servants to the purebloods. No wonder you never correct them here in the school. You let them run wild and put down others. When someone of 'lesser' birth stands up to them, you punish the victims for it. It makes conditioned responses to avoid making the purebloods mad or for anyone else rebelling against their authority. You condone their actions and say they should be 'guided back into the light'. After that, you do nothing to stop future occurrences. No punishments or consequences. Without a reason to modify their bad behavior, they just keep on torturing bullying and taunting. That makes adults who torture and bully until it loses its thrill. Then they turn to raping and killing innocents because they feel it is their 'right' as purebloods. The fact of the matter is you're just another pureblood supremacist, no better than a Death Eater, Headmaster. THAT is your Greater Good!"

"You helped create one Dark Lord in Grindlewald. You allowed a second to be born in Tom Riddle by refusing to stop what was happening to him and he took your Greater Good to new lows. You were _one life_ away from creating a third. If Hermione had died at the Ministry as well, there would have been something more dangerous than you have ever seen being born that night. It still might you know. Keep pushing me and you will not like the results, Headmaster. The choice is yours and yours alone. I will make you stop from pushing me over the edge into darkness. I merely want to be left alone to live my life in peace but you _will_ answer for your crimes."

"I, Harry James Potter, do give for the following punishment to Albus Percival Wufric Brian Dumbledore for his crimes and his oath breaking. That due to his lying, he be compelled to always speak the truth when asked questions. That he will always provide true and complete answers to the questions asked of him with no attempts to avoid answering with creative wording. For his crimes of theft, that he return all things he has taken from anyone in his life. If he cannot return an item taken then he replaces it with a similar item of equal or greater value. If the victim is dead, the replaced money or goods go to the person's heirs. For his facilitating abuse, I cannot bear to inflict that on anyone but I ask that his memory of being helpless and weak today remain strong and in mind whenever he thinks to manipulate anyone. For the crime of kidnapping, I ask that he never again be able to meddle in the affairs of others that are not encompassed in the _normal_ duties in any official post he holds. For his crime of oath breaking I simply require that he never again can be a willing party to a binding oath as proof to all that he is … untrustworthy. All of these conditions will be obeyed or he forfeits his magic immediately with no recourse."

"So Mote it Be!" A flash of light brighter than most oaths the teachers had ever seen wrapped around Dumbledore before fading. The old man struggled to sit up as his magic trickled back into his control.

"This is your _only_ second chance, Albus. There will not be a third. Oh, by the way, I know about those contracts you tried to make with Molly for myself and Hermione, Albus. Mr. Weasley already negated them. Good luck surviving THAT particular oath in the future. I am leaving now and if I never see you again, it will be too soon."

Harry turned and walked out of the Great Hall followed by a large beetle flying in his wake.

McGonagall looked at Dumbledore as the man wept. All of his work and the effort of a lifetime had turned into this. His life of manipulations in the background reduced to being exposed for what he truly was to four hundred students who had loved and respected him until a few minutes prior. The world knowing would soon follow.

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong> I know this encompasses many fan fiction tropes but I want to point out canon Albus did do a lot of shady things that could be considered quite dark. All of the charges I had Harry level on him are true, from a certain point of view. Each of the individual punishments are actually slight and quite harmless to anyone else. Tell the truth, don't mess with other people lives, don't steal and return what you've stolen are the main ones. But to someone who spent his life manipulating others, it is practically a kindly worded death sentence.


	6. World Cup Tangent

Hermione Jean Granger was one unhappy woman. Her seventeenth birthday was mere weeks past and she tried to focus on her upcoming A levels for school. She was taking the maximum number of classes allowed in order to speed up her education. Even two years cramming between classes at Hogwarts had not been enough to catch her up completely.

Everything in her life had gone to hell the night of the riot at the Quidditch World Cup. She had fled with Ron Weasley and his father from the Death Eaters but in the process they had lost Harry. Tense hours of waiting and hoping followed but there was no word from Harry or from the Ministry about her friend's status. Hours turned to days and all too quickly the summer ended and it was time to return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for fourth year.

* * *

><p>The arrival at the castle was met with alarm and a lot of unanswered questions. The headmaster, Albus Dumbledore insisted on talking to her repeatedly. Ron suffered the same interrogations. Memories were extracted and reviewed in the headmaster's magical pensieve but no clues about Harry were found. All they could see is the teens fleeing under the order of Mr. Weasley and Harry stopping and them losing sight of him.<p>

Harry's owl Hedwig flew into the Great Hall and simply sat on Hermione's shoulder on the second day at Hogwarts. The owl looked resigned and barked as snowy owls do. The teachers assumed that Harry would have to be dead or magically inert for his familiar to be unable to find him. Hermione broke down and cried at hearing that piece of news. Her unrequited feelings for the dark haired friend burned hot in her heart but were coldly extinguished by reality.

Time passed slowly for Hermione at Hogwarts. Her uncelebrated birthday passed unnoticed by her schoolmates. Only Harry had taken the time to organize anything the past two years. Halloween came and the Tri-Wizard Tournament was announced. Three names were drawn but she did nothing beyond clap politely with the rest of the school. She could not at the time even recall the names that were drawn.

Her friendship with Ron Weasley died off about this time. Without Harry to act as a buffer between them; their disagreements grew more and more heated until the friendship shattered under the strain. She would never speak to the redhead again outside of a classroom situation.

Winter break had a Yule Ball to which she declined several offers to attend. Instead she travelled home to spend it with her parents. They had picked up on her sadness and dismay and insisted she come home for the holiday. The great snowy owl that had been carrying her letters back and forth had been a surprise at first but it made for more secure communication than the normal school owls. Once home, Hermione broke down and cried in her mother's arms for the first time since she had learned of magic. Without Harry there, Hogwarts had become a source of too much pain for her to bear.

Hermione still loved magic and all it entailed. Her parents could see that clearly. But she was breaking under the strain of missing her friend. They understood that if their daughter dropped out of Hogwarts that the Ministry of Magic would take her wand, bind her magic and erase all knowledge of it from her mind. The time spent at the school would be wasted. Her mother was practical and after talking for long hours with Hermione, they hatched a plan.

Hermione returned to Hogwarts for the spring term with a new fire and a trunk full of extra books. She had three and a half years of catching up to do. What little free time she could muster after completing her magical work was spent catching up on her mundane subjects. Her parents applied for home school privileges with the local school authority and planned to bring in their daughter for formal exams that summer after Hogwarts let out. It took weeks for approval but the Ministry of Education accepted that Hermione contracted to attend an alternative school in Scotland for several years and wanted to return to regular school once she had completed that contract.

Hermione earned top marks at Hogwarts her fourth year and tested in regular school up to her third year with near perfect grades. She took time with her parents that summer to relax and travel with them. She still missed Harry but she was coming back to life once more.

Fifth year for the bushy haired witch was an eye opening experience. Hermione sent back the prefect's badge that Professor McGonagall offered as she did not feel she should be one. She was too busy to attend to the duties anyway. The old instructor tried to get Hermione to change her mind in a private meeting the day before school started but the girl would not budge. The professor grudgingly accepted the arguments of both Hermione and her parents.

Trouble began almost immediately upon arrival at Hogwarts. The DADA class was run by a loathsome woman named Dolores Umbridge. The Ministry of Magic had become more oppressive as time went on. Muggleborn witches and wizards were slowly losing basic rights as new laws restricting them were enacted by the Wizengamot. Hermione could see the writing on the wall but she refused to relent in her pursuits of schoolwork. She made her old schoolbooks available to younger muggleborns and reminded them that if they fell behind in their non magical studies, they would forever be trapped as second class citizens in both worlds when they completed Hogwarts. That action brought her to the attention of Madame Umbridge.

The detentions she faced were harsh. The first time that she was assigned to write lines with a blood quill she nearly hexed the foul woman. Instead she simply took hold of the quill and snapped it while saying 'Oops, it broke'. A half dozen more blood quills followed the first before Hermione was dragged to a courtroom in the Ministry.

Things however came to a halt when Madame Umbridge was required to present a reason for her attempt at running a student out of Hogwarts. The squat toad-like woman realized her mistake now. If she pressed that Hermione had broken her family's priceless blood quill collection, she would have to explain why they were there for the girl to break them in the first place. The woman spouted off nonsense for a time before the judge simply asked Hermione what the issue was. Hermione simply stated that she broke the woman's faulty low quality quills by accident due to having hurt her hand. It threw off her grip slightly and the quills broke. She would be willing to replace the _normal_ quills. She could not understand why she had been brought to a courtroom over something as petty as broken quills. Hermione then suggested that Madame Umbridge see a healer about mental issues as the woman was highly unstable. The tirade that followed Hermione's suggestion ended with Madame Umbridge confined to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies for treatment.

Fifth year progressed. The career counseling session turned out to be an enlightening meeting for all around. Professor McGonagall suggested many possible careers for Hermione but the assigned replacement for Madame Umbridge shot each suggestion down. He suggested that Hermione look for work in the Ministry as a clerk or as a shop girl. A 'mudblood' like her should only seek work in the magical world more suited to her station.

Hermione once more finished at the top of the class. She also passed her fourth and fifth years classes and aced her GSCEs with top marks. She returned home for the summer with her final plans already in mind.

Hermione stepped onto platform 9 ¾ to begin her sixth year with her trunk on hand but little else. Only Neville Longbottom and Ginny Weasley noticed she only had the one bag and she had not brought her cat Crookshanks. They asked her about it but she simply did not answer the question preferring to read a magazine she had brought. Her housemates dropped their questions soon enough.

Once the school year started, most noticed that Hermione was different this year. She did none of her work to previous standard. She simply turned in enough to not get into trouble. Professor McGonagall questioned her after a week but Hermione asked if they could schedule a meeting on the 20th to discuss things and her reasons behind her lack of effort. The professor agreed.

During the meeting, Hermione had informed her head of house that she was now legally of age in wizarding society. As an adult and that she had passed her OWLs, she was officially withdrawing from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She signed and passed over an official resignation form and stood to leave.

"Why are you doing this, Miss Granger?" McGonagall asked in choked tones.

"Because it still hurts too much, Professor. There comes a time when even a fantasy castle loses its luster, when spells and enchantments no longer thrill and magic itself becomes … mundane. I know I will find him somewhere out there but I needed to remember him in order to do so. I know Harry is not dead but he is still missing somewhere. I couldn't go find him until I could be out of the Ministry's thumb and to do that I needed to be an adult first. Even with all of my hopes I know I may never find him. So I made sure of my future in the real world while sacrificing this one," the girl said with a small sob.

The professor nodded and stepped around the desk to hug her favorite student.

"Let me know if you find him, Hermione. I miss him too," she said as she squeezed the girl tightly. McGonagall turned back and signed off on the resignation and handed Hermione a copy. "I'll walk you down to Hogsmeade. The floo there can take you to the Ministry to register your majority and withdrawal from Hogwarts."

The two women walked in silence out of the castle and down to the Three Broomsticks Pub so Hermione could use the public floo there. When she returned to her office, Professor McGonagall put aside her copy of the resignation until official word arrived from the Ministry. She would give the girl a chance to disappear from the coming storm first. She knew Dumbledore had plans for the girl so a head start would be a welcome thing.

Hermione took the floo to the Ministry of Magic and went to the Muggle Relations department. She filed paperwork certifying her majority and a change of address for any official correspondence that would redirect any mail owls from her parent's house. The Ministry did not need to know that it was a simple mail drop of rental post boxes as long as they had an official street address. She signed her agreement to the Statute of Secrecy and then vanished from the magical world.

* * *

><p>Weeks passed as Hermione reestablished herself in the 'real' world. She obtained a driver's license and a part time job to build some funds for her Harry search. She also needed the time to get used to not doing things with magic after years of doing things the magical way at school. She did magically create a non working duplicate of her wand and used the pair as decorative hair sticks to keep her long hair back and tidy. The sides and front were pulled back into a ball at the back of her head and the rest hung long down her back. That tamed the bushiness and allowed her to carry her wand with no trouble or strange glances. She knew trouble or Dumbledore would find her eventually and she wanted to be prepared when either did. Once she could attend a regular school once more, she planned to get her A levels done as soon as she felt she could get top marks or the following summer, whichever came first.<p>

The internet was something new she thought might be a help but it proved to be a quick lesson in futility. Her parents had always kept up with new technology but the search engines would not bring any information on the name 'Harry James Potter' or 'Vernon Dursley'. She was curious however that the antivirus program would ping each time she ran a search on either name. She realized that something was causing that so she stopped doing the internet searches from her parent's house.

She soon noticed a few out of place people in the neighborhood who seemed to be watching the house. She knew they could not be Aurors or Death Eaters so she summoned her Gryffindor courage and simply walked up to one.

"Excuse me Sir," she said politely. "I noticed you watching my parent's house. I figured if you needed something it would be best to simply ask. I hope we can help each other out."

"Go away girl," the man grumbled as he immediately knew the surveillance operation was blown.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at the man. "Harry James Potter. Each time I typed it into a search, another computer tried to take control of mine. I am assuming someone working with you traced it back here anyway."

The agent looked at the girl in amazement. She knew why the house as being watched and was coming to them. An open criminal case and possible organized crime sting was being threatened by a teenager who seemed to be cutting school.

"Shouldn't you be in school?" he groused.

"Home schooling. I also received some of the highest GSCE scores on record. I only missed three questions but those are being challenged as the answers listed as correct are wrong," Hermione replied somewhat smugly. "I will finish my final classes shortly to get a certificate and take my A levels shortly."

As Hermione finished talking, a non descript sedan pulled up and two men climbed out.

"Would you come with us to answer some questions, Miss …?" one asked holding up his government identification.

"Hermione Granger," the girl replied as she glared up at the man who got out of the car. "As long as I can get answers to some of mine, I'll talk to you. My Harry disappeared two years ago and I miss him."

The man who spoke nodded and opened the back door of the sedan.

Hermione took a moment to adjust her hair sticks and climbed into the sedan.

The car drove at posted speeds for about a mile then stopped on a side street in front of a shuttered business. The door opened as the men and Hermione got out of the vehicle and entered the building. The men shook hands with a suited man who gestured for Hermione to follow down a hallway. After passing several closed doors, the suited man entered one and Hermione followed. The man gestured to a comfortable looking chair at a meeting room table before sitting opposite her. It felt more like an executive's meeting area than a government office.

The bushy haired witch was nervous but not particularly worried as yet. Her wand was still up in her hair so she knew if things went bad she could defend herself. Another man entered the room and handed the first a folder with several pages in it.

"Hmmm, Hermione Jean Granger, age 17. Parents are dentists in private practice. Normal education at state schools until age 11 at which point you changed to attend a private alternative school in Scotland. Parents applied for home school permit at age 14 and you took your mandated tests one year late. You were correct about the GSCE scores, well done. Newly issued drivers license with standard unflattering photograph. Enrolled in a preparatory course for A Level testing next spring, ahead of your tacit peers group. Witch," the man said in a mechanical fashion before closing and setting down the folder.

"Which what?" Hermione asked.

"Not 'which'. Witch. We know you are a witch, Miss Granger," the man stated.

"Why would you say something so hurtful? I didn't come here to be insulted!" Hermione stood up preparing to try to leave.

The man reached into the folder and pulled out a photograph and placed it on the table. Hermione noticed the person in the photo moving. A second longer look made her realize it was a photograph of _her_. By the hair and robes, she guessed it was from last year, her fifth at Hogwarts.

Hermione's eyes widened for a moment as the man held out his hand gesturing for her to calm to her before he spoke again.

"Reginald Smythe, Ravenclaw, class of 1982 and first generation wizard. My daughter, Elisabeth is also a Ravenclaw, currently in her first year at Hogwarts," he said softly. "You were quite the celebrity there with your sudden disappearance. My daughter wrote home about you in point of fact as most first generation witches looked up to you. When your name crossed my desk last week, I asked my daughter if there were any photographs available of you."

Hermione just looked shocked first at the man, Mr. Smythe, then at the picture and back.

"Don't be so shocked, Miss Granger. The wizarding world is not as well hidden as they like to think they are," Mr. Smythe said with a slight smile. "Now, I assume you are thinking, 'How does this affect me?' I have a few things for you to know. You are not being charged with anything and are free to leave at any time. You may discuss this with your parents as you are still officially underage but please do not tell the magicals as yet. The Statute of Secrecy does not apply in our discussions as I am magical and know of the magical world. We would have contacted your parents shortly or waited until after your eighteenth but this alert from the internet and other events pushed up our plans."

"You said 'discussions'. Do you intend for there to be more than one?" Hermione asked trying to get some control of her emotions.

"If you are amenable to it; yes. We are burdened by a lack of accurate current information. While we can gleam some information from the magical press, it is severely biased locally and that is a problem," Mr. Smythe said while frowning.

Hermione couldn't hold back her snort and muttered, "Biased he called it. Nothing but lies on parchment for the sheep to read."

"Quite correct Miss Granger," Mr. Smythe agreed then continued.

"Between sending their squibs out of their society and disgruntled muggleborns like you and me leaving on their own, there are a great number of people in the normal world who give it away. Also, satellite technology and new digital photography does wonders. The overheads of Diagon Alley and other magical shopping districts around the world are well known and monitored by intelligence agencies. Then there are portable video devices and closed circuit cameras as well. A show on the telly over in America has magicals on staff to pull out any video proof of magical activity but it gets harder each year."

"Why tell me all of this?" Hermione asked.

Mr. Smythe looked down and bit his lip. "It seems you are a pivotal figure right now, Miss Granger. My daughter mentioned in her letter that the Headmaster at Hogwarts went spare in public when he found out you had left the school. He apparently shouted out in the Great Hall at your Professor McGonagall about not informing him so he could stop you from doing so. She is a perceptive little girl she is," Mr. Smythe said with pride.

"As it has been over a month since that event, it is felt Dumbledore will be trying something soon. It seems he already had acted. You are a link to one person that old man desperately wants to get his hands on; Harry James Potter. As such, we had several magical in our employ scan you when you entered the building. You have so many trackers and compulsions on you that we are surprised anything mundane even works in your presence," the man stated.

"Trackers? Compulsions?" Hermione asked in a slightly panicked voice.

"Yes. As far as trackers, we found seven different tracking charms cast on your person, two on the wand you are disguising as a hair stick, one on each piece of your undergarments and lastly a persistent potion in your bloodstream. The man was quite intent on always knowing your location," Mr. Smythe said wryly. "The scan on compulsions is quite dodgy as it was done from a distance. We cannot divine the intent of them all but we discovered at least two with a possibility of more layered underneath those."

Hermione sat in shock for a few moments.

"Once we deal with those annoyances Dumbledore cast, he will do most certainly try something else but it will give us room to act. We cannot prove when he cast them but most are illegal to be cast on adults within the magical realm without their knowledge. Once we deal with that old man, we can make arrangements for you to see your friend," Mr. Smythe said in even tones.

"Harry? You know where he is?" Hermione asked in a pleading tone. "Please, can I see him?"

Mr. Smythe pulled out a cell phone and stepped into the hallway. She could not overhear much but she did hear her name mentioned. Minutes later, he returned and sat back at the table.

"I have asked my superiors. Given what we have available, we might be able to arrange something soon but you would have to be forthcoming yourself with the current situation in the magical world as far as you know it. The incident at the Quidditch World Cup and the reappearance of Death Eaters is of great concern ot the Crown. Will you be willing to tell us what you know?"

"For Harry, I would do almost anything," Hermione said firmly. "Is he well at least?"

"Miss Granger, there is a problem you must know about first. I can tell you that he is not the Harry you knew," Smythe said bleakly. "The boy we found in 1994 was nothing like you remember. His magic has been bound in a harsh and cruel manner normally applied to criminals. Even worse he had been obliviated nearly to the point of personality death. The memories that remain are fragments and pieces but nothing whole past his eighth birthday or so. Beyond that, there are only two names he would mention or ask about, a Hedwig and a Hermione."

Hermione sat in shock for a moment again as the weight of the events today fell on her before she broke down and wept.

* * *

><p>The first clear memory the boy had was waking up in a hospital in London a bit more than four years ago. His lack of clear memory and signs of obvious old abuse on his person caused quite a stir for several weeks in government circles. Interviews with the fourteen year old boy gathered a piecemeal of recollections that showed a cycle of abuse in his early life that must have brought on his amnesia. Speech therapists narrowed his possible home region by accent to nearby Surrey. School records were consulted for that region and a list of the small number of boys who fit the physical parameters was drawn up and quickly narrowed down.<p>

Eventually this led investigators to a modest ordinary house in Little Winging, Surrey; southwest of London. The gasp of recognition to a photograph of the boy caused the investigators to serve the warrant they had to search the premises. The second bedroom with multiple outside locks and a cat flap as well as evidence of someone having lived in the cupboard under the stairs matched up with the bits they had to confirm they were at the right location. Multiple teams of police and detectives descended on the property. In less than an afternoon, the entire house was searched, documented, catalogued and then sealed by police. Rumors that the family had killed the dark haired nephew were rampant in the neighborhood for years after that.

A side effect of these events caused much consternation to the investigators. Numerous strange events began to occur as some investigators would lose track of their duties and forget about pursuing the case against the Dursley family. The rants of Vernon Dursley about freaks, wizards and a magical world would disappear from written records but not the electronic ones. The case was referred to the Home Office who said they would take care of things from that point on. The Home Office agents that took charge of the case, the prisoners and the information implied that organized crime or terrorists were involved and the local investigators acquiesced quietly. The Dursleys simply vanished after that.

The boy however, knew none of this. When the fact that his true name was Harry James Potter was revealed to him, it caused the boy to collapse in pain. The specialists assumed it was a flashback to his abuse at his relative's hands so they came up with a solution. Officials decided that it would be best for the abused teen to go by a different name if his current one caused a reaction like that. They took his mother's maiden name and his father's given name to create his new name of Evan Jameson. His official records were all updated to reflect this new alias and all official queries of the name 'Harry James Potter' would be shunted to the Home Office, Department M.

Evan sat quietly as his scheduled weekly meeting with his counselor was about to begin. He understood a bit more about his situation than he had two years before but a great deal still confused him. He understood that he had another name once and that he was famous for it but he only associated that name with pain. He had attended a strange school in a castle but he could recall no details of that schooling. Random images that had no context or focus point. The only names he could hold on to were Hedwig and Hermione. Both names were extremely rare to begin with but several instances stood out; one being a Catholic saint the other being a character in Shakespeare's 'A Winter's Tale'.

The counselor strode into the room looking quite chipper for once. The man took his seat opposite Evan and smiled. He took out a recorder and turned it on before speaking.

"Dr. Edward Watson in session with Evan Jameson. Regular session number one hundred twenty one. How are you today, Evan?" the doctor said.

"Well enough, I think," Evan replied. "I didn't have any dreams or nightmares this week that I could remember. School is going well. I should make top honors in my classes at the rate I am going so far."

"Well done, Evan," Dr. Watson said with a true smile. "So, anything clear up this week in your memories?"

Evan shook his head no. "Nothing I'm afraid."

The doctor merely nodded and sighed softly.

"Evan, we might have found something regarding your past. It might be quite painful for you and ruin whatever progress we have made with your memories. Your guardian has already approved us using it but we would like your approval as well. I need you to view a picture for me."

Evan could see the uncertainty on the doctor's face but his need to know his own mind and past pushed him ahead.

"I'll look at it," he said firmly.

The doctor slid a photograph out of a folder and slid it across the table back side up with one finger extended. Evan gulped and picked up the photograph and turned it over. He saw a brown haired girl about his current age. She had bushy brown hair and brown eyes. She wore a black robe with red trim open over a grey school jumper and pleated skirt. In the background stood a castle. The most startling thing was that the girl in the picture was moving.

"Hermione," Evan said in the faintest of whispers before his world shattered. A rush of memories and events flashed across his mind. Faces would appear and disappear in his mind's eye it but nothing would match up. Brown hair, red hair, white feathers, white beard, twinkling blue eyes, brown eyes, green eyes, a felt hat, a sword, owls, rats, ghosts, snakes, ravens and badgers. A regal animal that he knew didn't exist but that he also knew was real called a golden griffon. A huge man, a thin man, a man who was a dog and another who was a wolf.

Through the din of surging events a girl flashed to the fore often and he heard his own voice repeating her name over and over; 'Hermione'. The cacophony of utterances repeated over and over in his mind. Then the portal of his past opened and he fell in.

* * *

><p>Harry Potter heard the shouts coming from the crowd of people passing by the tent.<p>

"Death Eaters!" one woman screamed as she continued on in her flight.

Mr. Weasley tried to get Harry, Ron and Hermione to flee but Harry paused and looked back. A dozen or so figures in black robes with tall hats and skull masks were burning tents and levitating a family of muggles. In the few second she took in this spectacle, at least one hundred adults had fled past him.

'Isn't anyone trying to stop them?' Harry thought as Mr. Weasley tugged on his arm once more.

"Come on Harry! Head for the woods!" the red headed man urged before the press of the fleeing crowd pushed him along.

'They're outnumbered a hundred to one and they are stampeding the crowd like they are cattle. Or sheep,' Harry concluded.

The dark haired teen pulled out his holly wand with its phoenix feather core and pointed it at the marching group.

"Stupefy," he said as he cast his stunner. The red bolt sped down the open space between Harry and the dark robed group. The bolt impacted on one in the center who slumped down as a result.

"Stupefy. Stupefy. Stupefy," Harry called out as he fired three more times. Three more Death Eaters fell as they began to look to see where the stunners were coming from. Harry continued firing his stunners into the group from long range picking off the robed men as they tried to awaken their comrades. More than half were down now as they began to return fire at Harry.

The pops of incoming apparition sounded as Aurors had finally begun to respond to the riot. Harry simply stood firing stunners at the masked group before him. Most merely stood and watched as Harry continued his barrage of red spells. The last two standing masked men apparated out of there; leaving their comrades behind. Harry stopped firing and looked at the Aurors. None had even fired a single spell at the Death Eaters but rather had their wands trained on him.

"Drop the wand, boy," one called out. Harry was shocked as he could not comprehend what the Aurors were doing going after him instead of securing the downed Death Eaters. He lowered his arm as he allowed his wand to slip from his hand to the ground.

Without warning, a flight of owls all descended on him all bearing letters with the seal of the Ministry of Magic on them. A nervous Auror panicked and fired a stunner at Harry and blackness claimed him.

Harry felt a jolt and he slowly opened his eyes.

"Is he awake now?" came an impatient sounding voice.

"Yes, Minister," came a reply from somewhere behind Harry.

"Harry Potter, you are accused of twenty seven counts of violating the Decree of Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, and thirteen counts of hexing an upstanding member of society. How do you plead?" sounded the voice of Cornelius Fudge to Harry's groggy hearing.

Harry tried to lift his arm to his face but found it restrained.

"Defendant refused to answer. Add one count of Contempt of Court, Weatherby," sounded Fudge's voice.

"Yes, Minister," came a voice that sounded to Harry like Percy Weasley.

Harry forced one eyelid open and tried to focus but his glasses were not on his face.

"What's going on?" he stammered out in confusion.

"Defendant again refuses to enter a plea. Add an additional count of Contempt of Court, Weatherby" Fudge stated.

Harry tried to focus on the hazy lime green blob sitting on a brown blob Harry assumed was a desk of some kind. A pink blob moved in front of the desk now and spoke.

"It is obvious and irrefutable that Harry Potter is a menace who flaunts the laws of decent society. Twenty seven counts of underage magic and attacking purebloods who were attending the Quidditch World Cup," a high pitched and whiney voice claimed in pompous tones. "We have no recourse but to find him guilty as charged on all counts."

A slight grumble of agreement sounded in the haze around Harry.

"The court votes guilty," Fudge called out. "Therefore, you shall be remanded to the muggle world with your magic sealed and your memories of the magical world removed. Court is adjourned!"

Harry tried to struggle when a bright light shone in his face as he heard one more word.

"Obliviate."

* * *

><p><strong>End Notes:<strong> This came close to becoming a story but I am not really willing to start on another full project at this time as my Naruto stories are languishing unfinished. People who have read those will see the similar base plot to one of them. I will offer it up to an interested party who wants to run with this beginning. I might come back to it on my own in time but for now it will remain as is, on the floor.

**Edit Aug 19.2012:** After several people asked what compulsions I had put on Hermione, I had four planned. First, to search out Harry Potter by any means necessary. Second, to inform Dumbledore when Harry is found. Third, to return along with Harry to the Wizarding world so she can fulfill Dumbledore's plans for her. Fourth was placed long before, to only consider Harry as a friend, never in a romantic sense. The trackers and three compulsions were placed after Hermione had left. By her doing so at the Ministry he could not simply pull her back to Hogwarts with a simple memory charm.


	7. Inheritance

**Inheritance**

Harry Potter sat before a desk at Gringotts Wealth Management Department and fretted slightly. The goblins had already settled into an agreement for the damages to the Bank during the War so he was not worried about that. He was here to find out exactly he had been left by Sirius and what his parent's estate had consisted of.

"Ah, Mr. Potter," the old goblin said in his nasal voice as he sat down holding a number of folders.

"Good afternoon, Silverfang," Harry replied in a congenial manner.

"I am glad we will be able to settle things today. There are a lot of things to go over and time is money."

"First, your parent's estate. There are few household items left in that as the house they were staying in at the time of their death was destroyed then the remains seized by the Ministry. Their personal vaults were opened to you on your majority and consist mainly of sentimental value. The cash level in them is roughly 2000 galleons as the bank does not inventory vaults contents beyond a client submitted itemized list of valuables. Your father had the family items stored after his parents died. There are various investments both magical and mundane that Gringotts Investment Services maintained under the last standing orders of your father in 1981. The investments you inherited from the Black estate were added to those. The liquidation value of such investments is roughly four million galleons depending on what prices could be obtained at the moment of sale. The lack of drawing on any income the past sixteen years has allowed it to grow quite nicely as all dividends were reinvested after paying broker fees and taxes."

"The Potter family has several rental properties in use generating enough income to keep them functioning in good repair and updated to the latest level of mundane technology and in compliance with all laws and regulations. The Black properties are mainly run down at this time due to lack of upkeep. The Grimmauld place townhouse is one of the better sited properties but is in the worst shape of any of them."

"Your trust vault is still in place and contains the remains of your school trust and the monies you inherited from Sirius Black. This is your largest amount of hard currency at this time with roughly 10,000 galleons in it."

Harry nodded at the goblin as he listened.

"Is there a way to know an exact count of the cash in the vaults? Or if any interest is earned on a vault?" Harry asked as he tried to make the math work in his head.

"A vault is just that Mr. Potter; a vault. If you want an exact count, you would need to do so on your own or have a house elf or goblin spellworker to do it for you. There are also magicked scrolls available for a fee to keep track of vault contents. Only trust vaults which normally have that special arrangement to be replenished have arrangements made for this option. Your trust vault replenishment lapsed in that after your sixteenth birthday and our estimate is based on what was there with the deposit of Sirius Black's estate added in. Anything you had taken out since then would reduce that amount."

"The mundane equivalent of a vault would be a safety deposit box. They neither gain nor lose value other than what is added or removed by the vault holder. We only maintain a non trust vault until such time as they are closed, the family lines die out or the annual service charge is not paid. Accounts are what generate interest from us. Accounts are simply funds from depositors and the bank pays interest based on the current balances. Most of your family wealth is tied up in investments rather than vault or deposit at this time. The accounts are currently kept at a level to generate sufficient interest to offset annual vault fees without reducing the value of the accounts."

Harry nodded in understanding at that. He recalled Vernon harping on bankers and money matters were one of the few items Vernon ever unintentionally instructed Harry on. Dudley could not be bothered with such things so complaining in Harry's direction was soothing for the man. The interest rate changing was of particular worry to his uncle as it would affect his loans and savings interest rates.

"You are the titular and magical head of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter. The actual mundane lordship was revoked after the Norman Conquest of England but the family can still maintain the Noble in their name in the magical realm. Should you perish without issue, the title will fall to your 7th cousin, twice removed in the United States, who is also the current Lord Gryffindor."

Harry looked confused at that mention.

"Headmaster Dumbledore told me that only the heir of Gryffindor could have pulled the Sword out of the Sorting Hat. Would that not make me Lord Gryffindor?" Harry asked.

"No," Silverclaw responded. "You are AN heir but not THE Heir. According to my parchmentwork, you are currently ninth in line for the actual Lordship, a member in the fourth cadet line. It might please you to know that is the highest you are on any Hogwarts title. Ravenclaw has you at Twenty Seventh, in the eighth cadet line. Hufflepuff is dead last at number two hundred thirty ninth in the forty second cadet line. The Slytherin title is currently dormant as several cadet lines exist from it but none are currently magical. The first child to express magic will inherit the title."

The goblin paused for a moment and chuckled.

"The perfect place to be if you were a pot of Irish bean soup Mr. Potter," Silverclaw said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"I don't understand, Silverclaw," Harry replied not getting the joke.

The goblin knew it was a terrible joke but he liked it anyway. "The perfect number of beans in a pot of Irish bean soup is two hundred and thirty nine, Mr. Potter."

"Why two hundred thirty nine?" Harry asked still not getting it.

"Because if there was one more it would be two forty," Silverclaw said.

Harry just sat with a puzzled look on his face.

"Say it with an Irish accent, Mr. Potter. It would be much funnier."

Harry thought for a moment then shook his head at the bad joke.

"Well, there is nothing else at the moment to deal with regarding your inheritance, Mr. Potter. As a piece of advice, you should go over everything with a fiscal planner. There are properties that could be used in better fashion and some investments need to be adjusted but you could live comfortably solely on the income generated without changing anything. The balances would not grow if you do that but it is your choice. Most Potters have chosen to work and do good things with their lives and in society without being worried about airs."

Harry stood and thanked Silverclaw for his time and left holding the documents the goblin had provided.

* * *

><p><strong>End Notes:<strong> It has always bothered me that so many authors pull the Little Lord Fauntleroy cliché with Harry. First they say has huge amounts of money in the bank and then noble titles and heir to the Hogwarts founders on top of that with even more money sitting in even bigger vaults for centuries. Vaults which would have been plundered long before by previous heirs. In addition, I know that no bank would have hundreds of millions of coins sitting idle in a vault of all places for generations and all the while adding more. Money would be invested with only small amounts of coin on hand. There simply is not enough specie to create that many coins if the combined wealth is the wizarding world was only dealt with in coin form. It also bothers me that interest would be paid on money that the bank could not use to create income to pay interest with. No, vaults are mere storage just like in reality. They keep things safe. Writers should use something wizards lack when dealing with bank issues, common sense.

Yes, I wrote in this story that Harry does have some money. A family legacy that was built over time but it is a reasonable amount. But as I believe would be the case, most of it is invested with only a small amount in cash on hand. The education trust is hard currency so it will not be affected if the family takes a hit financially.

The joke is simply that when said with a bad Irish accent, the number 240 sounds like 'too farty'.


	8. New Prophecy

The Great Hall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was full of students enjoying themselves and preparing to head home for the summer when a voice rose from the teachers table.

_**The Chosen One lies broken, lost and alone, He has no will to fight.  
><strong>__**His life manipulated as a puppet, his blood abusing him, he has no reason to continue.  
><strong>__**The weasels and bumblebee gather close, longing for the spoils, poisoning his body and mind  
><strong>__**If the Chosen does fall, the Darkness will rise, all will be lost.**_

_**His Hope sits alone, kept from her love, promised to a weasel as spoil.  
><strong>__**The two joined as one may triumph, the Chosen and his Hope, the Power the Dark Lords fear.  
><strong>__**Fight and win or fall and lose, there is no middle ground. The Dark Lords must fall.  
><strong>__**The Chosen One lies broken, lost and alone, He has no will to fight.**_

The voice faded and silence reigned in the Great Hall as hundred of student looks at Sybil Trelawney in shock. A prophecy had just happened right in front of them. Even Ron had stopped eating and looked on, his half full mouth hanging open as food dripped out back to his plate.

Sybil looked up at the people watching her. "What?" she muttered.

No one looked more shocked that Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Headmaster of the school. He knew that Sybil did indeed have prophecies before and this one was quite disturbing. He looked out at the assembled student and knew he could not keep this one quiet without serious effort.

The eyes of everyone were drawn next to the Gryffindor table. The seat next to Hermione Granger sat empty. Harry Potter was not at the leaving feast with everyone else. Murmurs began to come from the students as Dumbledore stood to speak.

"Students, we must remain calm. I am sure this is all a simply a prank in very poor taste. Where is Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore asked.

"He is in the infirmary," Neville Longbottom replied. "He has not been sleeping well all week and Madame Pomphrey gave him a dreamless sleep potion earlier this evening. He went right to sleep and will be for hours."

Dumbledore frowned. 'Damn, this will be a problem. I cannot blame this on Potter as a stunt for attention. Now what?' he thought.

"If it isn't a prank then it must be a real prophecy," Lavender Brown squealed out. "I knew Divination wasn't a worthless class!"

The one statement by the air headed Gryffindor girl put paid on any plans Dumbledore had of keeping this incident quiet. He could not Obliviate the entire staff and student body of Hogwarts in time as they were leaving in the morning. He sank into his seat in disbelief and hung his head.

Several Slytherin students got thoughtful looks as they would be telling their Death Eater parents about this prophecy. The Ravenclaw students immediately got into a discussion about the meaning of the words they had heard. The Chosen One was obviously Potter. Rumors of him looking sad and depressed the past few days had been all over the castle but no one had really paid must attention after all the bad press he had this year.

Whispers rose up of 'weasels' and many eyes were drawn to Ron and Ginny Weasley. Ron's temper was a legendary as his mother's howlers. He was lazy, jealous, greedy and ate like a swine. He also was always going on about Harry having money waiting for him when he came of age.

Ron flinched as eyes focused on him. He managed to close his mouth and was chewing an oversized lump of food quickly but he could not seem to swallow it. He instead pulled up a cloth napkin and spat the lump out into it. Ginny was red faced as she grew more nervous as time passed. Both Weasley children independently rose to leave at the same moment and fled the Great Hall. If nothing else, that solidified any guilt on their part, real or imagined.

Hermione just sat with her head lowered as she silently began to cry. Harry had told her of the prophecy he had been under all of his life just the night before. Parvati Patil, Lavender and Neville all tried to comfort her. With the Weasley's flight, all eyes turned to her and the line of 'promised to a weasel as spoil' also took on a solid meaning for many students and teachers.

"Albus," Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress and Head of House for Gryffindor growled out in a low voice at the man next to her at the main table. "Did you make any promises to the Weasleys?"

Clearing his throat before he could answer Albus croaked out a distorted, "I don't know what you're talking about Minerva."

The aged Headmaster's mind was whirling. This new prophecy would destroy all of the plans he had made for the past sixteen years. He had been preparing to have Harry sacrifice himself as a martyr and had prevented the boy from gaining strength and knowledge in magic. Everything depended on the boy dying so he, Albus Dumbledore, could defeat Tom.

Now those plans were utterly destroyed. The boy had to win or the world would be lost. He had to prevent that from happening at all costs. Even his plans to have the boy married off to the Weasley girl were destroyed. This new prophecy clearly pointed to Miss Granger as the Hope of the Chosen One. Albus had been placing compulsion after compulsion on the girl but she would not leave Harry's side as a friend. Now, he understood why. He had tried to manipulate a prophecy to suit his own ends and what must be was now fighting him. The new one would make what was destined to happen come to pass. Could he have been, heavens forbid, wrong all these years?

No, he thought. There was no chance he could be wrong. He was Albus Dumbledore after all. He was the Leader of the Light and he was the Guardian of the Greater Good. He could never be at fault. He simply needed to control new pawns now and discard the old ones. The timing would be different but he would save the world from Tom and Harry Potter must still die to accomplish that task.

The Headmaster's silence and introspection allowed a number of students to leave the Great Hall heading for the Owlery. Minutes later news of what was said would be on its way to the hands of many who would use it, for better or for worse. This would send ripples across the British Wizarding community.

* * *

><p>The following morning, McGonagall stopped Hermione on her way to the carriages with her luggage.<p>

"The Headmaster would like a word about this new prophecy, Miss Granger," the teacher said.

Hermione looked at Minerva with a worried cast on her face. She looked around nervously after meeting the older woman's eyes once.

"Is it really important? I don't want to miss the train," Hermione hedged in reply.

"He was rather insistent, Miss Granger. However, I believe that I should accompany you to this meeting as I do no longer trust his motives," McGonagall said with a firm voice.

"Where's Harry? Will he be there?" Hermione said with a bit of hope in her voice.

"He is still sleeping in the infirmary, Miss Granger. It was decided last night that he would not be going back to the Dursleys this summer.

Hermione smiled slightly. "That at least is good news. Those monsters are horrible to him," she said in a quiet voice. "All right, let's go."

The long walk to the Headmaster's Office took several minutes which passed in silence. Minerva spoke the password and they mounted the last spiral stair to find the Headmaster waiting along with Severus Snape, the potions instructor and Head of House for Slytherin.

"Thank you Minerva, that will be all," Dumbledore said in a dismissing tone to McGonagall.

"I shall be staying to advise my charge, Headmaster. It IS my duty as her Head of House," McGonagall said in a formal tone.

Dumbledore's slightly lifted one eyebrow was the only hint of his annoyance at being disobeyed.

"I would also like to ask just why Professor Snape is here for this meeting," McGonagall pressed further.

"Severus has my full trust," replied Dumbledore in his standard answer.

"Perhaps he does but any private discussion with one of my House is none of his concern," the Gryffindor Head growled out. "Now, the Express is leaving in forty five minutes and it will take us at least twenty to get to the edge of the wards to apparate to the station. We have no time to waste on posturing. He leaves or we do. Choose."

Snape looked at Minerva and sneered but nodded politely to the Headmaster and left the office.

Dumbledore began to speak but McGonagall pulled out her wand and silently cast a detection spell. Several listening charms were detected which she violently disposed of. A thump was heard in the stairwell as feedback struck Snape and he passed out.

"Now that the 'greasy git' is not listening in, what is the issue, Headmaster?" McGonagall said in a barely controlled voice.

"You didn't need to do that, Minerva," Dumbledore said trying to smooth over the Scotswoman.

"What is the issue, Headmaster?" McGonagall said in an angry voice this time.

"Miss Granger, I do not feel it is your best interest to return home at this time," Dumbledore said turning to Hermione, his eyes twinkling.

Hermione looked down when McGonagall had been talking to Snape and Dumbledore. Her eyes were drawn to look at the twinkle for a moment before turning her head. She kept her eyes lowered when she replied. "Why?" she asked.

"Miss Granger?" McGonagall asked puzzled at the girl suddenly refusing to look at the Headmaster.

"I wish to leave the office immediately, Professor. The Headmaster just tried to enter my mind with passive legilimancy," she stated in an angry voice.

The twinkling in Dumbledore's eyes ceased as he flinched back as if struck.

"Albus?" Minerva asked in a threatening tone. "Is that true?"

"Minerva I assure you ..." Dumbledore began.

"It was a yes or no question Albus and you answered it anyway," the woman said in a raised voice. "Come, child, we are leaving," Minerva commanded Hermione.

"I have not given permission for you to leave, Miss Granger. You are staying in the castle for the summer in order to learn your place. It is for the Greater Good after all," he finished his eyes twinkling with something resembling madness this time.

The girl rose quickly and followed McGonagall out of the office. The Scotswoman stepped on the unconscious Snape at the bottom of the stairs and aided Hermione past him. The teacher quick marched the girl along as fast as she could move without running.

"How did you know he used legilimancy on you, Miss Granger?" she asked as she escorted Hermione away.

"The Headmaster forced Harry to try to learn occlumancy from Professor Snape this term under the cover of remedial potions. He kept ripping into Harry's mind instead of teaching him and I thought if I learned it myself I could help Harry to learn it," Hermione explained trying to keep pace with the taller woman.

The tight set of McGonagall's lips told Hermione much before the woman spoke once more.

"If he used it that casually, then likely he does it quite often. That damned eye twinkle of his makes people look him in the eye and he could scan their active thoughts," she hypothesized before stopping.

"Professor?" Hermione asked.

"A change in plans Miss Granger. I will insure you get to your parents as soon as I can but you will not be travelling home on the Express this time," Minerva said as she changed direction to head for the infirmary.

* * *

><p>Upon entering the ward, Minerva called for the school nurse. "Poppy!"<p>

The woman she called came out of a small office in a hurry expecting a medical issue.

"Poppy, wake Mr. Potter and get him ready to travel as soon as possible," she commanded.

"But the Headmaster said he was staying for the summer," the nurse protested.

"Poppy, there has been a change of plans. Ask me nothing further and Albus will not be able to rip it from your mind," Minerva told her long time friend.

The nurse just nodded and turned to the still sleeping Harry Potter. She waved her wand at the boy but nothing happened. She frowned and did it again. Still the boy did not move.

"Strange," the nurse muttered and she cast another spell before gasping. She turned to the table beside the bed and scanned the potion bottles there.

"The dreamless sleep potion he was given has been laced with something. It is not harmful but I cannot wake him until it is out of his system. It would take a full day from the time he took it," the nurse said to Minerva.

"Was it one of yours or one Severus brewed for you?"

Poppy looked upset, "One of Severus'. I was out and he made it for me last night after Albus said Mr. Potter was staying."

"We need to move him now, Poppy. It is important as Mr. Potter is in danger," McGonagall stated.

"The great Harry Potter is in danger?" a voice said from the shadows beside the bed.

"Dobby?" Hermione said in a shocked tone.

"Yes Miss Grangy. It be Dobby," the short green house elf said as he stepped into view.

Minerva looked at the scrawny elf and frowned. The elves of Hogwarts were bound to obey the Headmaster unless he endangered the school.

"Dobby, can you help us get Harry to safety?" Hermione asked.

The elf nodded his head violently in confirmation, his ears flopping as his head moved. "Dobby can Miss Grangy," he said in an excited tone. "Dobby would do anything for the Great Harry Potter."

"You are not bound to Hogwarts," McGonagall asked.

"No, Miss Kitty. Dobby be a free elf and be taking wages for his service. One knut per month. Dobby be ashamed he works for so much."

Hermione and McGonagall both raised an eyebrow in similar fashion at that but said nothing more.

"Dobby, first go gather everything in the castle that belongs to Mr. Potter and pack his things. We will have more orders when you return," McGonagall commanded.

"Yes, Miss Kitty," Dobby said before disappearing with a popping sound.

"Poppy, is the floo here still connected?"

"It is a direct line to St. Mungo's. That is the only link on it but it is for medical emergencies only," Poppy said.

"It will have to do. Dobby cannot get us all out in time and I felt the castle wards go into lockdown. Albus is looking for us and will be here soon."

Hermione gasped and then turned to face the ward doors before pulling out her wand and casting a locking charm on the doors.

"Miss Granger? I don't know that charm," McGonagall said.

"Um, it is one the Twins developed, Professor," Hermione replied.

Dobby popped back into view then and reported.

"Everything that belongs to the Great Harry Potter has been packed away," the elf said as he handed McGonagall a shrunken trunk.

"Well done Dobby," Minerva said with a smile. "Now, can you take Mr. Potter to my home near Glasgow?"

"Dobby would but Dobby does not know where it is, Miss Kitty. Dobby cannot find it," the elf answered after about ten seconds.

The professor shook her head at herself.

"Silly me," she said in a low voice before calling. "Cally!"

A female elf popped into view. "Yes Mistress."

"Cally, please take Dobby and Mr. Potter to the house," she commanded.

"Yes, Mistress," Cally replied with a short curtsey.

The two elves popped away with the bed and Harry in it.

"Poppy, the floo?" Minerva asked.

The nurse nodded and turned to a small fireplace in her office. As she tossed in a bit of powder the doors of the ward behind them shuddered and a cursing was heard.

"Hogwarts Medical Override, Poppy A One One Three. Transporting three persons to St. Mungo's," the nurse stated.

The fire turned green and grew higher before staying that way.

Minerva went first followed by Hermione with Poppy going last.

The ward doors burst open and Albus Dumbledore looked at the vacant ward with an angry look on his face.

* * *

><p>The emergency room in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies had been having a slow day until a medical emergency light came up over the incoming floo. Medical personnel scrambled but saw three people walk through the flames. Several people looked on as Minerva spoke.<p>

"The Headmaster has gone mad! He called us heliopaths and claimed tried to hex us to death. If he comes through with a drawn wand, you must try to subdue him before he can get his bearings. We are heading to the DMLE to report this directly to Madame Bones," the professor said as the trio ran out.

Moments later, the floo flared again and Albus Dumbledore strode through with wand drawn to find a number of stunners laying him low. A mediwitch by the name of Eliza Pickering would unknowingly find herself the newest master of the Elder wand as her stunner hit the Headmaster first.

* * *

><p>A second quick floo trip for Minerva, Poppy and Hermione found them in an ancient manor house in Scotland.<p>

"Hermione, where are your parents right now?" Minerva asked.

"They normally take the day off when I am coming home. They should be at home right now," Hermione replied.

"Good. Cally, Dobby, please go to Miss Granger's parents house and bring her parents here. Do not harm them but do not take no for an answer."

Minutes later, tow elves and two adults returned to the atrium of the manor.

"Siege wards. Lockdown. Clear all permissions for entry save those already inside the wards," Minerva spoke waving her wand in a complex pattern.

No sooner had she finished when a ringing like a bell chime sounded but nothing more happened.

"We barely made that in time," Minerva breathed out a breath she held a minute later.

"Professor McGonagall?" Hermione's mother Wanda spoke up.

"Ah, Mrs. Granger, Mr. Granger, I am sorry about the problem but time was of the essence. There is a problem and some people are not handling it well," the old teacher replied.

"Mum? Dad?" Hermione said with a timid voice.

The girl hugged her parents who both smiled on seeing their daughter after so long.

"What is happening dear?"

"Last night in the Great Hall, our Divination instructor recited a new prophecy. By all interpretations, it was a very serious one involving Harry Potter and your daughter. The Headmaster did not like it as apparently he has been doing things he shouldn't. He tried to force your daughter to remain at Hogwarts and 'accept her place' as he put it. I do not think the place he decided upon was to your daughters benefit," Minerva stated.

Wanda shuddered at the possibilities and clutched Hermione tighter.

"We barely escaped from him and I had you brought here with no warning to protect you from him. I apologize for my actions against you without permission and only ask you hold your judgment for my crime of kidnapping you until after we deal with the Headmaster."

Wendell Granger looked at his daughter's scared face. "The old bugger would have done something to my daughter?" he asked Minerva flat out.

"Yes, I am certain he would have done something to her mind or magic," Minerva replied with absolute certainty.

"And he would have used my wife and I against her to gain her compliance if he could?"

"I believe he would."

"Then I should be thanking you for a rescue rather than consider it kidnapping that these … um elves for brought us here," Wendell said.

"Mistress, where should we be putting Mr. Potter?" Cally spoke up after Mr. Granger spoke.

"The Red room I think, Cally. Assign Miss Granger the Yellow room next to it and Mr. and Mrs. Granger to the Green room next to that," McGonagall instructed her elf.

"Miss Kitty, where should Dobby place all of the Great Happy Potter's things?" Dobby asked timidly.

Minerva handed Dobby the shrunken trunk from earlier. "Place his trunk in the room at the foot of the bed of course, Dobby," Minerva said kindly to the quivering elf.

"Dobby understands that Miss Kitty. But Dobby wants o know where to put everything else," Dobby said in barely a whisper.

"Everything else? What else is there?" Minerva asked in a firm voice.

Dobby snapped his fingers and a large pile of objects appeared on the foyer floor. Minerva gaped at the items as she could recognize several from the Headmaster's office.

"Miss Kitty said to 'gather everything in the castle that belongs to Mr. Potter' so Dobby did. These being items bad Headmaster took from Potter vaults or bought directly with Potter monies he took from the Great Harry Potter. The magic knows what is belonging to the Great Harry Potter, Miss Kitty,' Dobby said.

The pile of books, ancient tomes, robes, rare potion ingredients and the pensieve from Dumbledore's office were noted along with a number of Gringotts keys on a ring. A pair of school trunks with the names James Potter and Lily Evans emblazoned on them sat beneath everything else.

"My word," Minerva muttered.

* * *

><p><strong>End Notes:<strong> Another story start that I really do not have time to pursue. I know I am a big thumper on Dumbles but I do not like him as a character. Hopefully, this getting out of my head will allow me to finish the next chapters of my Naruto stories.

**Tropes Used:** Post DoM events, Evil/Manipulative Dumbledore, Minion Snape, Evil/Greedy Weasleys, New Prophecy, H/Hr, Strong McGonagall, Thieving Dumbles.


	9. Python at the Ministry

**This is plain unadulterated foolishness**

* * *

><p>Harry Potter only saw the green light as it hit him in the side and knew he was dead. He was not expecting death to be a train platform. He looked about wondering what to do next when he saw a red haired woman he had only seen in pictures walking up to him.<p>

"Mum" he said softly.

"Harry," Lily Potter said with a smile before stepped close and smacked him on the back of the head.

"Ow! What was that for?" Harry groused as he rubbed his head.

"That was for being a git and getting yourself killed by a Death Eater you stunned three times already," his mother said with an irate look on her face.

"What else as I supposed to do? I don't want to kill them! It wouldn't be right," Harry protested.

"Why not? They were certainly trying to kill you. But you got lucky this one time. I didn't come here for you Harry. I came here for the little piece of fecal matter behind you. Getting to see you early was a bonus," his mom said with a smile.

Harry looked behind him to see a Mini-Me version of Voldemort lying on the ground.

"Ew," Harry muttered. "What is that?"

"That bit is the seventh piece of old Voldy's soul that latched onto you he screwed up back in '81. The nutter was using dark rituals to put pieces of his soul into objects to keep him from dying back then. That is why you can't get rid of the bloody cockroach. But he screwed up fairly badly in his so called resurrection ritual."

"How did he screw up?" Harry asked wondering.

"The rituals he was using to create them were designed to create seven soul pieces. He had already made six horcruxes by the time he got around to trying to kill us. But the blood protections I put on you prevented him from killing you and accidentally lodged the seventh piece inside of your scar. His spirit survived as a wraith without the soul piece. That is where he screwed up. Without a bit of his soul involved in the ritual he had Wormy use, his body is only a homunculus and not a true body. That is why he is deformed instead of looking like a man. Destroy the soul containers and he is dead forever."

Harry nodded but frowned next.

"But I'm dead," he told the obvious to his mother.

"No, you're only mostly dead. And mostly dead is still a little alive," she said with a grin. "Part of your soul is still at home and will pull the remainder of you back soon enough. But I should tell you two very important things. This thing being removed from your mind and soul is going to leave you a tad unhinged for a few days until your magic adjusts. The second is don't leave a Death Eater just stunned to be revived by his comrades. Use something with a bit more oomph. Oh, and disarm them as well after they are down."

Harry nodded as his mum walked walked off toward a train dragging the Mini Voldemort by an ankle. She made sure to bang its head on every bench she passed until she boarded a train at the far end of the station. Then darkness filled Harry's vision.

* * *

><p>Hermione and Neville looked down at the body of their friend and leader after taking down the trio of Death Eaters that had killed Harry. The pair wondered what they would do now when a giggle erupted from their 'dead' friend.<p>

"Harry?" Hermione whispered as she was startled by the sound.

"Whoa, that is gonna leave a mark," Harry said as he dabbed his forehead where his scar had burst.

"We thought you were dead, mate," Neville said as he helped Harry sit up.

A grinning Harry looked at Neville and then to Hermione and replied, "Nope, just mostly dead."

Hermione got the reference immediately. She loved 'The Princess Bride'.

"Damn, no loose change for me then," she said wiping her tears.

"So, what are our assets?" Harry said playing along.

Neville did not understand but he spoke up, "Ginny, Luna and Ron are all hurt but safe for now. We don't know when more Death Eaters will get to this room."

"Oh, what I wouldn't give for a Holocaust Cloak," Harry said chuckling.

"Harry! Be serious!" Hermione admonished.

"I can't be Sirius, I'm Harry," the boy protested.

"Honestly," Hermione grumbled.

Harry climbed to his feet and looked at the trio of prone Death Eaters.

"Diffindo," he said casting a spell that cut off the first man's arm at the elbow.

He walked to the second. "Diffindo," and cut off that man's arm at the elbow as well

He noticed the third was Lucius Malfoy.

"Diffindo," he cast do the the same before pausing to turn back.

"Diffindo, Dinffindo," he cast twice more cutting the other arm and ponytail off.

"Harry!" Hermione cried out. "What was that for?"

"I just dis-armed them," Harry said with a grin still plastered on his face.

The Order of the Phoenix rushed into the room at that point led by Albus Dumbledore. The ancient leader looked at the wounded Death Eaters and frowned.

"Harry, did you so this?" he asked.

"Tis but a scratch," Harry replied.

"You cut off their arms," Albus said about to go into 'Disappointed Grandfather tone #3'.

"No, I didn't," Harry said with a bad accent resuming his smile.

"What's that then?" Dumbledore said as Hermione tried not to laugh.

"I've seen worse. And it's only half an arm," Harry said in the bad accent.

"Harry, if you travel down that path you might go dark," Dumbledore tried his failsafe tone #4.

"Oh, come on, you pansy!" Harry stated before a noise interrupted him. He pulled out his wand as more Death Eaters found them.

A battle erupted with the remaining Death Eaters losing without all of their members able to fight. Harry took off in pursuit of Bellatrix after narrowly saving Sirius from falling into the Veil of Death. He taunted the insane woman as he ran after her.

"Run Away! Run Away!" he called after the woman. When she stopped in the Atrium to battle Harry, the boy banished a bench at her and transfigured it into a miniature cow yelling "Fetchez la vache!" the miniature bovine slammed into Bellatrix knocking her unconscious as Voldemort appeared nearby.

"Harry Potter," said Voldemort in his low voice that tried to be intimidating.

"Oh, Tommy is here!" Harry said clapping his hands.

"I am Lord Voldemort!" the deformed villain cried out and attacked. Harry dodged the attack but retaliated by conjuring a cream pie and banishing it at Voldemort before chanting.

"Tom, Tom the muggle's son, stole a title and away he run, the title was shit and Tom was a git, and Tom went disembodied down the street!" Harry repeated over and over as he fought the Dark Lord.

"Stop that!" Voldemort yelled as it bothered him.

"Your Father was a Muggle and your Mother smelt of inbreeding!" Harry taunted again in a poor French accent.

"Stop that!" Voldemort roared.

"No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!" Harry shouted back as Ministry workers began flooing into the Atrium. Behind him members of the Order along with Hermione and Neville arrived.

Voldemort decided that he was in no position to win at this point decided to leave and appatared away.

"Elvis has left the building!" Harry cried out. Hermione ran up to him and hugged her best friend as others also closed in on him. Harry took advantage of the hug to kiss Hermione who after a moment of being startled returned it eagerly.

Harry looked at Hermione and noted in his semi-deranged state that she had her bosom pressed up against his body and how nice it felt when she gave a Hermi-hug. He smiled at her and chuckled.

"Why Dingo Hermione, I do believe you are excited. Your twin Zoot Hermione never gets this excited," Harry said breaking the kiss and letting go of his hug.

The witch looked at Harry for several seconds as she let go her side of the hug. Her mind processed his statement. "Yes, bad naughty Zoot Hermione," the bushy haired witch said with a grin enjoying the flirting she had wished Harry would do for years. She was about to abandon her efforts to get the black haired boy to notice her and set her sights on Ron. She decided to flirt back and see where things might go. "You must spank her well, and after you are done with that, you may do with her as you like. That ought to get her excited."

Dumbledore noted the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge pushing through the crowd and decided to get Harry out of there.

"Harry, I think you should get back to Hogwarts now. It is perilous for you to remain," the headmaster told him pulling Hermione back from the teen.

"Oh, let me have a little peril!" Harry whined not wanting to release Hermione but he couldn't prevent her from being pulled back.

"No, its best you get back to the school," Dumbledore insisted charming a portkey to send Harry back to Hogwarts.

"I bet you're gay," Harry said.

Albus paused long enough for Harry to grab onto Hermione before the portkey whisked them away. A phantom laugh sounded along with Harry's voice crying out, "Run Away, Run Away!"

'Damn, who told him I was gay,' Dumbledore wondered.


	10. One Insult Too Many

Time frame: Fifth Year AU. No Umbridge

* * *

><p>It was dinnertime at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Fifth year Neville Longbottom was quietly eating and studying a herbology book between bites. His theory for crossbreeding two similar plants, one magical, one mundane to produce a magical version with a higher yield looked promising. Professor Sprout had given him some space in the school greenhouse to test his theory. His focus was so on the text that he failed to notice a trio approaching the Gryffindor table with malice in mind.<p>

The Slytherin trio of Draco Malfoy and his bodyguard / toadies Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle made routine trips to the Gryffindor table to harass Harry Potter trying to get the fellow Fifth year into trouble. However, this night they were going after what Draco assumed to be much easier prey. He sauntered up to stand behind Neville unnoticed by most. Harry along with his friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger did notice and had palmed their wands to be prepared. The defense lessons that Harry had been providing insured that the group was in a state to react to anything that Malfoy would dare to do.

"Hey, Longbottom," Malfoy drawled out in his attempt to sound high class. "I hear you have a project in herbology coming up. It seems that you are quite adept at it. I guess that shouldn't be a surprise considering your family."

Neville' breath caught in his throat. 'Malfoy wouldn't dare bring that up here. Would he?' the teen thought.

"It seems Longbottom is used to dealing with vegetables. After all, he will have to take care of his parents one day," Malfoy said with a laugh in his tone. The comment brought a cry of outrage from several people who knew Neville and his family's past. Harry stood and was going to say something but to everyone's surprise, Neville spoke.

"Leave it Harry. This is my issue, not yours," Neville said in a tight voice. People beside the Gryffindor teen could see him trembling with his head lowered and his fists were clenched hard. His private pain had been revealed to most of the Great Hall by the tone Malfoy had used. It carried well in the room.

"If I am not mistaken, done by your aunt in the service of the Dark Tosser," put in Harry. He was not willing to leave Neville to face these bullies alone.

Draco Malfoy decided he should put the finishing touch to get these stupid Gryffindors into trouble now. "Perhaps now that she has been broken out of Azkaban by unknown forces, maybe she might go finish the job. I don't even think crushing some vegetables will get her into any further trouble. She might even get a commendation for relieving society of their burden," the blond finished with a sneer he routinely practiced.

This comment brought out a murmur of talk from the other tables. No one noticed the shaking in Neville had stopped. All eyes were on the blond boy whose sneer transformed into a smile of victory as the seconds crawled by without a response from Neville.

Neville's head snapped up. The Second year across from him would later say she was momentarily terrified of the gentle boy but was glad his eyes never focused on her. The boy placed both palms on the table and slowly rose to his feet. Then he turned so he could look across the Staff table to see what if anything they were doing about Malfoy's insults. Most of the teachers were looking on with blank faces. McGonagall and Sprout looked angry but had not risen to his defense. The Headmaster Albus Dumbledore actually looked _interested_ in what was going on but he made no move to stop it.

'Fine,' Neville thought. 'It is on their heads then.'

"Ooo, Longbottom does have a pair," Malfoy taunted before Neville finished his turn to face the Slytherin bully.

"You insulted my parents, Malfoy. Apologize," Neville said in a deep and dangerous voice.

Draco's eyes flashed up to the Staff table to see they were doing their standard gargoyle act as far as his antics were concerned. 'They are all afraid of my father,' he assumed incorrectly. The blond looked at his Head of House Severus Snape and noticed the man was simply waiting for his own time to act and punish Longbottom for reacting.

"Why should I, Squib? It's not like you can do anything about it. Or are you going to threaten me with that butter knife you have clenched in your hand."

Neville looked own to see he indeed had a knife in his hand. He slowly moved the hand across his body to place the knife on the table. Then, before anyone else could react, he brought his arm up in a whipping motion and struck a backhanded fist to Malfoy's jaw. The slap of impact and the crack indicating the breaking of the blond's jaw followed by the boy's flight backward several yards onto his back was something no one had foreseen coming from this encounter. The toadies both looked at their boss and back to the angry face of Neville and stepped back in fear.

"One hundred points from Gryffindor for striking another student," cried out Snape in reaction to the strike.

Neville looked at Snape and spoke in a loud clear voice, "No."

"Another fifty points for disrespecting a teacher," Snape said in a sneer that made Malfoy's look like a child he was.

"Again, No," Neville ground out. "You lost all right, moral or legal to interfere when this French merchant's son decided to insult the Heir of an Ancient and Noble House and the teachers in this school DID NOTHING!" All the students in the Great Hall noted that the Gryffindor point counter remained unchanged after the exchange as the student and teacher glared at one another before Snape looked away. The slightly chubby but powerful boy now looked at the groaning blond on the ground before him.

"Draco Malfoy, scion and heir to the minor merchant House Malfoy, you have greatly insulted the Head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom. As his Heir and sole Scion I have taken up his defense and find great offense at your actions and chosen physical chastisement for your words under the laws set forth by the Wizengamot. You only need apologize and beg forgiveness for this chastisement to end. Losing consciousness will not end this as it is a lawful right as the Heir of a Peer of the Realm to conduct."

"When my father …," Draco slurred out before the heel of Neville dragonhide boot impacted on his nose, shattering it.

"When you father hears about this, he WILL DO NOTHING. Your House is in deep enough trouble as it is a known follower of the half blood Riddle, Malfoy. Your father is only a member of the Wizengamot as a proxy for the vacant Black seat. He has no real power outside of money on his own. The House of Longbottom has been recognized in Britain since the time of Merlin. You French upstarts have only been living in country for a mere two centuries and only as visiting merchants before that."

Many of the Slytherin students listening were shocked at the revelation that Neville made. Many had simply assumed that the Malfoy family was much older than that. No one had delved into their history and the family kept it a closely guarded secret. The fact that Draco's father was sitting a proxy in the Wizengamot was never told to anyone either. Draco's stock in the House of Snakes took a major fall with that one statement.

Crabbe and Goyle were about to step up to Neville when they were commanded by an unlikely source; Daphne Greengrass.

"Vincent, Gregory, stop at once!" the girl ordered the boys before they could close on Neville. "This is an Ancient Family matter and if you get involved, he could tear down your fathers as well."

The two bruisers backed off nodding first to Neville then going to stand next to Daphne. The dark haired enigma of Slytherin stood with her arms crossed as she observed the event happening between Neville and Draco. For his part, Neville nodded at the girl and she nodded back in silent communication and respect.

Draco managed to pull his wand out of his robes and turned it on Neville. The blond boy tried to cast a curse at Neville but his broken nose and jaw ruined his pronunciation and caused it to misfire. The action brought a large murmur from the Ravenclaws and Slytherins along with a few Hufflepuffs. All sounded of disapproval. Neville responded by stepping on Draco's hand and snapping the wand along with several fingers.

Neville looked down at the boy who fancied himself the 'Prince of Slytherin' and shook his head.

"Even under a official challenge you still try to cheat. Typical French behavior," Neville said in a low voice. "Sad."

Draco knew he was quickly running out of options when Neville grabbed him by the front of his robes and lifted him bodily from the ground. His jaw made speaking difficult and could not even speak in his own defense. He saw Neville's fist pulling back to hit him again. Many members of Hufflepuff and Gryffindor who has suffered at Malfoy's tongue and wand over the years were egging the normally quiet boy on.

"Neville, that's enough," said Harry in a quiet voice that was somehow heard over the din. The Scion of Longbottom paused and looked at his friend. Harry and Neville looked at each other in silence as long seconds passed before Neville lowered his prepared fist and spoke.

"Scion of the minor merchant House Malfoy, the Heir of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter has spoken in your defense. For this reason, I shall halt your chastisement at this time. However, should you make the mistake of insulting ANYONE within my hearing; I reserve the right to resume it. Do you understand?"

Draco only nodded but Neville was not going to let him go with that.

"Then say your understanding, Heir Malfoy," the Heir of the Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom instructed.

"I understand," slurred out Malfoy.

Neville did not move or lower his raised fist a millimeter. The only motion was his eyebrow rising a fraction as he waited.

"Milord," Draco finally murmured out the honorific as his defeat was complete.

Neville simply lowered his fist and released Malfoy's robe from his grip. The beaten boy merely fell to the stone floor as Neville turned back to the Gryffindor table and took his seat as if nothing had happened. Once Neville had asked the second year girl across from his spot to pass the potatoes, Daphne allowed Crabbe and Goyle to collect Malfoy from the floor and carry him out of the Great Hall to the hospital wing.

Daphne sauntered up to Harry at this point and smiled.

"Thanks Potter. Your speaking up for Malfoy did a lot of people a service today. Between Neville physically destroying him under the Old Ways and you putting him in your debt by speaking up for him, you have broken Malfoy's political grip on Slytherin House. Public knowledge of his family history will echo into the Wizengamot by the next session as well and ruin the ponce's father as well. I guess it is a good thing the son is not as canny as the father was. He never learned a simple truth in life," she said.

"Oh? And what is the simple truth he didn't learn?" Harry said still confused by all the events of the day.

"Never piss off a Longbottom," she said with a smirk. "You would be better off poking a sleeping dragon. By the way, you are quite uneducated for someone of your position. We should have a talk; soon. In public of course. Ciao, Potter," the girl finished before sauntering out of the hall to solidify her new position in the upended Slytherin hierarchy.

* * *

><p>A simple idea of a Neville that would fight back to defend his family as opposed to simply enduring insults to himself. The idea leads to a political Harry along with Neville and Daphne showing him the way. Weasleys and Dumbledore marginalized but dragging Hermione along as she is quicker to learn than Harry and stands by her friend. One idea that could be something but I lack the time to research andor create a nobility system.


	11. Demented

**Demented**

Harry and Dudley fled from the Dementors chasing them until they arrived at 4 Privet Drive and ran into the house to warn Dudley's parents. The Dementors simply phased through the wall before stopping as they encountered Vernon Dursley. The dark creatures looked at the morbidly obese man for a few moments before backing away. They hovered in the living room and one began to speak.

"So sorry my good man. We didn't realize the Potter boy was spoken for already," the Dementor said in a proper upper class accent.

Vernon looked at the dark floating apparition and simply yelled out, "POTTER!"

Harry cautiously entered the room while pointing his wand at the floating black shapes.

"Potter, what are these things?" Vernon growled out as his face turned a bright shade of puce.

"Dementors, Uncle Vernon. They guard the wizard prison Azkaban. They suck out the happiness and good memories of the people there to let them wallow in pure misery and torment. They are used to suck out the souls of people as well," Harry told his uncle.

"Good show, lad. I'd give ya an 'O' for that answer but you already got that grade in your Defense class," the second Dementor in a stiff Cockney accent.

"What are they doing here, boy!" Vernon bellowed. "You in trouble with the freak law now?"

Harry flinched under the harsh voice of his uncle when one Dementor spoke to Vernon.

"While I wouldn't mind seeing a professional work over his charge, we really need to get back to Azkaban. Umbridge sent us down without telling us all the facts and the shop chief is going to be right miffed at her. She had us breaking union rules and all."

"So, you're just leaving?" Harry said in a quiet incredulous voice.

"Yea, professional courtesy and all that," the second Dementor said as the other left through the wall. "We never mess with another's Dementor's charge after all."

* * *

><p>A short but sweet bit. More humor was needed in my life so I tossed this out in an hour from a random thought<p> 


	12. Potions

**Potions**

Tropes Used: Evil/Manipulative Dumbles, Potion Usage.

* * *

><p>Hermione Jean Granger was running scared as if the Hounds of Hell were right behind her. She was racing as fast as she could with her limited experience at apparition to get home to her family in London. The setting sun would soon make it too dark to see her location so she knew she would have to hurry. She did not dare try to use any of the floo connections to get home from Hogwarts in Scotland. Hopefully, the fact that she had fled to school would not be noticed immediately so she might be able to escape being tracked for several more hours.<p>

* * *

><p>Her flight began early that day. She had been revising for her Potions NEWT alone in the Room of Requirement in spite of it being more than a year away. Normally she would have dragged Harry or Ron with her but she was mad at Harry for his using an altered Potions book and Ron was too busy trying to suck out 'Lav-Lav's tonsils. She had noticed that entire section of the text on detecting and flushing potions had been skipped so she was focusing on that. She thought such a thing would be taught as knowing if you were under the effect of a potion would be important information and quite likely questioned on her NEWT.<p>

The detection potion was rather basic and she completed it in under an hour. She did not expect any result but was shocked and puzzled when she got a strong positive indication. However, the color would not match any listed indication of the type. That meant she had multiple potions in her system. She knew that her injury last June had her taking medical potions for weeks. A naïve hope that perhaps the potions left some residual amount in her body and it was affecting the result. But the strength of the positive was such that she knew it was more recent than that. She calmly went about doing the test again by brewing a second potion that would identify exactly what she had in her blood.

The second potion took nearly three hours to brew. She ignored the time and worked straight through lunch. She never noticed an elf from the kitchen pop in and leave a tray for her with a note for her to eat everything and be sure to drink her juice. When she had finished the brewing she noticed the tray there and frowned. But she did not dwell on the food or the note as she ran the test on her blood to see what was happening.

The second potion merely acted as a separator for the individual potions within her bloodstream but could not tell her the specific ones. But she felt she could use the information to ask Madame Pomphrey what she had in her. The colors rose out of the option along a placed piece of parchment and gave a number of colored bands, some thicker than others. The thickness would indicate the concentration amounts.

She frowned at the range of items and how wide several of the color bands appeared to be. This was no residual amount! She was being actively potioned! She quickly pulled out her text looked up the colors; growing more panicked as she read. Mind control! Jealousy! Loyalty! Complacency! The final one listed almost made her burst into tears. A Love potion! She would need a charm to learn exactly what potions these were but she knew she was in danger.

She thought quickly and began to pace the floor of the Room on how she could be getting potions as she was not taking anything when her eyes ran over the untouched lunch tray.

"No," she whispered to try to deny it. She pulled her wand to cast a detection charm when she learned something else. She didn't know any!

Hermione paused to think and remember. Part of her ability to score top marks in school was her eidetic memory. She could remember and apply everything she ever read which made her such a 'know-it-all' in her childhood. Each year the first thing she did was read the Table of Contents of all her school books. That way she could always be able to find what she needed. Fifth year charms, OWL material covered detection spells. But why was she not remembering that! She quickly flipped to the relevant chapter and shuddered. She could recall learning the spells on either side of the detection ones but there was a GAP in her memory that was now plain as the Sun.

The witch quickly read the information and glanced over at the tray. She swirled her wand and flicked it and the goblet began to glow a color that matched the mixed color the first test potion had indicated. She began to shake now as her mind made a simple connection. There was only one person in the castle who could have the elves put potions in a student's food or drink.

The Headmaster, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was feeding her potions.

Her first impulse was to run to him and tell him about her discovery like a good student while at the same time her anger wanted her to confront him on this fact and hex the old man. The duality of her plans struck her and she forced herself to do neither at the moment. She concentrated once more on her memories and found the next bit of information she needed and discovered _another_ gap in her memory but once more her memory of the Table of Contents of her books came to her rescue. Current year, Potions, Flushing Draught, used to purge the body of all potions and poisons.

She flipped to the relevant pages and scanned the ingredients and brewing time. One hour! She barely had enough ingredients but she should not need a full cauldron of the stuff. A couple of doses should be enough to get rid of whatever was in her. With an iron will she forced down the urge to run to the Headmaster with her knowledge once more. The time passed slowly as she prepared the draught she needed.

Once she had the potion finished she measured it out the recommended dosage into several vials. Her hands were shaking violently as she was fighting the need to stop what she was doing and go to the Headmaster. She capped those and set them to the side. Then she measured out a double dose into a flask and drank it down before she lost all control.

Hermione took one deep breath after finishing the foul tasting concoction before she doubled over in pain. It felt like fire was coursing through her bloodstream as the magic in the draught tore at the potions in her body. Colored steam poured from her pores as she writhed on the floor. Her stomach clenched violently and then she vomited several times, each one fouler tasting than the last. Colored juices lay in puddles on the floor next to her as she pulled back from them.

The agony continued for almost ten minutes before it lessened and finally stopped. A puff of white smoke issued from all of her pores as the signal that the flushing draught had completed its work and left her system. She moved her sore body to the table and quickly ran the test for potions pleased to see it come out negative.

The urge to run to the Headmaster had faded but still nagged at her. 'A compulsion spell of some kind as well,' she thought. It was controllable however now that she was aware of it. It was her emotions that were now playing tricks on her. Her annoyance at Harry had faded as had her attraction to Ron. She held back tears of shame and regret as she began to stuff her books into her backpack out of habit. She suddenly stopped and looked at what she was doing and stopped. She waved her arms in frustration and a lack of ideas on what to do. She felt unclean and just wanted to get away; get away from Hogwarts and the old man who had filled her full of mind numbing poisons.

Hermione only paused long enough to take the doses of Flushing Draught along with the detector potions. She fast walked to the Gryffindor Tower which was thankfully nearby and headed up to her room. Right now she was glad she was already 17 and could legally do magic outside of the school because at the moment she did not plan on coming back here willingly. She was glad that her dorm room was empty so she closed and shrunk her trunk. She noticed Crookshanks napping on her bed and bit her lip. She couldn't leave him but she also couldn't take him as she was not sure she could apparate all the way to London with him.

The ugly orange cat stirred as it felt her lift him up. The teen muttered disillusion spell and vanished from sight. She hurried over to the boy's dorm and silently crept up the stairs. She avoided a few younger years as she made it to Harry's truck without being noticed. She felt guilty for what she was about to do but she felt she had no choice. A bit of paper from her journal and a Biro she kept with her private diary made a quick note for Harry. She apologized for taking his things and would return them as soon as she could. She pulled out Harry's invisibility cloak and slung it over her shoulders. Then she pulled out his broom and headed for the window.

Hermione hated to fly on a broom but had mastered the needed skills early on. She never went beyond the minimum needed to get her 'O' on flying in 1st year. It would never be her preferred method of travel but she could do it. With a simple command the broom hovered and she flew out the window into the chilly autumn afternoon with her cat cradled in her arm.

She flew down to the Whomping Willow and carefully poked the knot that would halt the limbs for a few moments. Quickly as she could she crawled into the hole under the tree and then ran down the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack. She looked around and was glad that the house was avoided by the rest of Hogsmeade. She let Crookshanks loose outside of the building and told him to hide as she fought back tears. She promised she would find him as soon as it was safe. The cat just gave her a look that almost seemed to be the feline equivalent of arching an eyebrow at her. Her rubbed once against her ankles and headed off to find a snack.

Hermione hid the broom under a bed, made a half turn and apparated south in the first stage of her trip home.

* * *

><p>Dinnertime at Hogwarts was always a crowded affair. Albus Dumbledore loved to look out at the students with his future plans laid out in his mind. Gellert had been a fool; a loveable fool but a fool nonetheless. The power to rule the world lay here. He felt that by controlling the new generations of British witches and wizards, he would eventually control the world. It was all for the Greater Good, of course.<p>

He pictured who he would influence to marry and who he would subtly drive apart. He would make the old pureblood lines grow strong once more with controlled infusions of fresh blood through the lesser families. He had been doing it for several generations now and he was pleased with his breeding program to date. The Weasley family would be a crown jewel in another three generations. With Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley having children in due time would revive the Potter line. He planned for them to have several children and which lines they would marry into. Ronald would have to settle for a mudblood as he was the sixth son and had nothing going for him in Albus' plan. His power was below average and he did not deserve more than the simple breeding stock that Miss Granger would provide. His children might be worthwhile if Albus' reading on Miss Granger were correct. He looked at the Gryffindor table with a contented smile and noticed the empty seat near Harry and Ronald before he frowned.

The girl was not there. He mentally touched the wards of the castle and could not find her within them. He had not felt her leave either. Composing his face, he rose and meandered to the table in question.

"Ah, Harry, have you seen Miss Granger today? I received a message for her from her parents about a change in their plans for the holidays I wished to pass on to her," Albus said in his 'kindly grandfather' tone.

"No Headmaster. I haven't seen her all day. She mentioned revising at breakfast and I have not seen her since," Harry replied.

"Strange," Albus said. "If you see her, please ask her to come to my office this evening."

"Yes Sir," Harry said with an agreeable nod as the Headmaster wandered off. Harry just went back to talking to Ron and wondering what Ginny was doing later on.

Once he departed the Great Hall, Albus hurried along to his office. He would check his locator map. The Marauders thought they were the only ones to do this but he had one better. He could track people by their location and where they had been for the past day anywhere on the grounds. He touched his wand to the parchment.

"Show me Hermione Granger," he commanded. The map did nothing which confirmed that she was not on the grounds at all.

"Rewind until breakfast and track Miss Granger," Albus commanded next. The time indicator quickly moved back to dawn before the dot for Hermione appeared in her Gryffindor 6th year girl's dorm. Moving the time ahead faster than normal, Albus tracked Hermione's movements to the Room of Requirement which blocked further view until about three hours prior when she exited. The dot moved to the girl's dorm then to the boy's dorm then jumped down to the Whomping Willow before vanishing.

Albus growled to himself. "Snappy," he called out.

A house elf popped into the office looking contrite. "Yes, Headmaster," Snappy said waiting for a command.

"Snappy, did Miss Granger have her medicine at lunch today?" the old man asked in a kindly tone.

"Snappy be bringing it to Miss when Miss didn't show at lunch today, Headmaster. Miss was busy so Snappy left it for Miss with a note to make sure Miss took it. Snappy made no fuss over it as Headmaster instructed Snappy to never make a fuss over Miss' medicine to Miss," the elf said meekly.

"Where was she doing and did she take it Snappy?" Dumbledore asked fighting a headache at the elf's repetition of 'Miss'.

"Miss was being in the Come and Go Room making potions, Headmaster. When Miss left the Room it reset so Snappy does not know if Miss drank it or not," the elf said in a tearful voice, knowing it would be punished.

Albus kept calm and dismissed the elf who fled as soon as permission was given.

The blasted girl had done a runner. Albus pulled out the Elder Wand and cast a trace spell for Hermione Granger. It pointed him towards London. The girl was likely headed for her parent's home. Blasted child was almost more trouble than she was worth. If she was not descended from squibed out lines of several ancient families he would have let her die five years ago when the basilisk petrified her. Once she was married to Weasley, he planned to have the boy give over the ancient vaults she was entitled to in Gringotts with a token amount being turned over to the stupid boy as payment. The potions texts from her six times great grandfather would be worth a fortune today as the Ministry copies were lost in the Great Fire of London in 1666. The Dagworth-Granger branch of the family only had a partial listing but could not access the vault

The Headmaster reached for the floo powder to get to the Hog's Head before he could apparate to London.

* * *

><p>Hermione burst into her parent's home tossing aside the cloak nearly exhausted. She had needed to make over a dozen small jumps to get the 600 or so kilometers to London from Hogwarts and found she had to rest for nearly ten minutes after each one. She realized she could barely call her parent's house home anymore as she had been here at the most for only a couple of months in the past five years. She was always off with the Weasley's or the Order the past few years. Her parents were nearly strangers to her now but she could not just leave them at the hands of Dumbledore.<p>

"Mum! Dad!" she called out as she burst in and saw them getting ready for dinner.

"Hermione! What are you doing here?" her mother asked. The teen's disheveled appearance and dirty hair showed something was wrong

"I thought you were not allowed out of school during session," Mrs. Granger asked.

Hermione burst into tears and hugged her mother who awkwardly hugged her in return at first but held tighter as Hermione wept on her shoulder.

"What's wrong dear?"

"Mum, I ran out of school. I found out something earlier today that was dreadful. The Headmaster was feeding me potions! We need to get away before he comes after me," Hermione said trying to pull herself together.

"Potions? But aren't they helpful?" her father asked. He had seen some role playing games back in college and even with his daughter being a witch he had little idea of what they were.

Hermione nodded and wiped her face with a handkerchief her mother handed her. She saw his look of confusion on his face so she made a small translation he would instantly get.

"Not these ones. The ones he was feeding me acted like mind altering drugs, Dad," she said.

Mr. Granger understood _that_ immediately and nearly snarled. As a dentist he knew what medicines could do when abused. But this was even worse. Someone was feeding his baby _**drugs**_!

"That bastard," the man muttered. "I knew they were like a cult. Always taking you away during your breaks and keeping us away from 'their world'. What do we need to do? What can we do?"

"I'm not sure," Hermione said as she realized she didn't have a plan. She never did anything without a plan and checklist and was lost at the moment from simply reacting for the first time in her life.

Her mother came to her rescue. "The police then. Or the magical equivalent. First we get to a safe place then contact the authorities. Give us a few minutes to grab some papers."

Hermione just nodded as her parents got moving. She kept looking at the door expecting it to fly open and admit a vengeful old man. But with a moment to think she remembered they would always appear just inside the front door in the foyer of the house. She cast a low power detection ward over the house that would alert her to an incoming apparition about fifteen seconds before they arrived.

They were at the front door when Hermione's alert ward chimed. Hermione panicked once more.

"He's coming," she cried out as she backed up pulling out her wand. Her mother was behind her but her dad had been halfway out the front door. He stepped back in and reached behind it for the cricket bat he kept there for emergencies.

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was not a happy wizard right now. He popped into the Granger household with a loud crack that sounded like an engine backfiring. He let his magical aura flow out with his appearance to shock and awe the muggles into doing nothing when he arrived and prevent them from stopping him before he could cast Obliviates on them.

"You have been a very naughty girl, Miss Granger," his voice boomed in the close confines of the foyer. He made an impressive show and both Hermione and her mother were truly cowed before him. However, he made one serious life ending mistake.

He had not looked behind him. It took a sharp pain in his head to realize that before everything went dark

* * *

><p>Mr. Granger wrapped his hands around the handle of the bat and lifted it just as a man appeared in front of him. The long white hair and tacky colored dress, um robes, identified him as the man who drugged his precious daughter. The booming voice and the admonishment to Hermione sealed Mr. Granger's view that his daughter was truly in danger. Without a flinch he swung. The full force of the swing connected with the back of the Headmaster's skull.<p>

* * *

><p>The aftermath was not pretty. Hermione presented her memories of the events in a pensieve and the killing was declared self defense. Some of the more ardent members of the Order of the Phoenix protested but shut up when tests at Hogwarts showed a full third of the student body until the influence of potions. This included both McGonagall and Snape.<p>

The notes and logs of the old manipulator were made public a week later by McGonagall. All the old man's sins were laid bare to the crowd. The ideas he developed with his lover, Gellert Grindewald, his planned domination of the world by wizards and the breeding program for the 'Greater Good of Everyone' met with an extremely hostile audience.

The anger generated by the general population soon found an outlet. Voldemort took the opportunity to attack Hogsmeade with most of his Death Eaters and Dementors along. He assumed that the people would be disheartened with the death of their 'hero' thinking he would have a quick victory. He was wrong. He found most of the Aurors in Britain were there to prevent angry parents from rioting as well.

Instead of people cowering, the first thing that happened was a Reducto was launched at Voldemort's head during his 'Surrender or Die' monologue by one furious Arthur Weasley. He had just learned his 'marriage' to Molly Prewitt had been arranged by Dumbledore who had provided the love potion to the woman. Molly on her part had never needed liquid coercion to support Dumbledore as all she wanted was money and her schoolgirl crush on a leash.

Death Eaters normally had two things in their favor, fear and a liberal use of the Unforgivables while their targets were too afraid to fight back. This time they did not have fear on their side. Anger demanded action and the minions provided an outlet for that anger. When the Death Eaters were forced to defend against hundreds of incoming spells, they fell like wheat before a scythe. Even Voldemort was downed. But when he appeared as a black mist, his essence was captured by a Dementor and devoured.

Nearly all of the relationships at Hogwarts fell apart once the potions were stopped and people were free. In time a good number were restarted but for a key few they would not. Ron could never get a girl he liked interested in him. He eventually married Romilda Vane when she was found to be pregnant with his child near the end of Ron's 6th year.

Ginny was devastated that her crush decided to leave her behind. Harry had more potions in him than Hermione did. He lost all trust for the Wizarding world and left Britain for to heal mentally and physically in the mundane United States. He only kept in contact with Hermione as most of the potions listed for him were designed to push the two of them apart so he felt he could trust her. In time he found love with an American witch he met when he was in therapy whose name was never released to the magical public. She was always only referred to as 'Mrs. Potter'.

Hermione ended up moving with her parents to Australia. She too eventually found love and married a local wizard with bad hair who was trying to gain equal protection for the drop bear (magical koala) population. Their children had the worst hair in the history of magical humanity and the daughters created the passing fad, Bald Look for Witches.

* * *

><p>Another random thought for a story plot but centered around Hermione.<p> 


	13. Weasley Red

Hermione Wesley groaned softly as she woke and rolled out of bed. Her wedding to Ron the day before as well as the consummation that followed were both stuck in her mind. Both were much less than she had hoped they would be as a teenager. She prayed that Ron would improve with some practice. The newlywed stumbled into the bathroom feeling slightly light-headed and off balance.

The light automatically came on as she moved to take care of her morning business when she glanced at the mirror. The glance became a full stop and moments later a scream sounded waking all the people and owls in the Burrow.

Ron was laying in bed feeling quite satisfied with his performance the night before. He had woken up when Hermione had climbed out of bed. When the scream woke him completely, he pulled on the robe at the foot of the bed as he rushed to see what the matter with his bride was. He found Hermione looking into the mirror in stunned disbelief as her hands were trying to touch her hair.

Her once full mane of curly brown hair that tended towards bushiness was now thin stringy Weasley Red.

"Oh yeah," was all Ron could manage as he took in the sight. "The Curse."

Hermione slowly turned to look at her new husband as a glare that could melt titanium formed in her eyes. "Curse? What Curse?" she said in a tone that would freeze the previously mentioned melted titanium.

Ron cringed under the glare before whimpering a reply. "The Weasley family hair curse," he managed to get out.

"You mean you knew this would happen and you didn't _say_ anything to me beforehand?" Hermione growled out.

"It never came up," Ron whispered as he was frozen by her glare. He wanted to run but a survival mechanism in his brain kept him motionless. If he bolted, he would have curses and hexes covering his back before he could make it out the bedroom door.

The standoff was interrupted by shouting in the hallway and Molly Weasley calling through the bedroom door.

"Is everything all right in there?" the matron inquired.

Hermione stepped up to the bathroom door and Ron backed up an equal amount as she moved. The now redheaded woman grabbed her robe from the foot of the bed and donned it over her filmy nightgown before opening the door.

Molly took one look at the anger and distress on Hermione's face and the cowed Ron before she too noticed the hair on her newly minted daughter in law's head. The elder woman nodded knowingly and reached out to Hermione.

"Come get some tea with me while I explain something my son _should_ have," she said as she also shot a glare at he youngest son.

Minutes later, Hermione sat at the kitchen table with all the women of the house. The men had peeked once before realizing that hiding was safer. Ginny was getting out cups while Molly set the water on to boil. The door opened and Fleur stepped in as she had been in the magical tent in the yard along with Bill and carrying their daughter Victorie.

"Sacré bleu," she said as she saw Hermione's hair. "What happened Hermione?" The Veela and her daughter both had lustrous blonde hair without a hint of red.

"The Family Curse," Molly said with a neutral tone as she poured out tea. "Ron never told her about it."

"You keep mentioning a curse but no one is going into explanations on it," Hermione grumped as she took the sips of the tea trying to calm her nerves.

"Well, it seems a few hundred years ago, the Weasley family got into a spat with another one. Words were exchanged and the head of the other family laid a curse on the Weasley line. You see, the Weasley heir who did it was making fun of the man's bright red hair." Molly lifted a lock of her own hair to indicate to Hermione what she was referring to. "Hair just like this."

Hermione quickly connected the dots. On the first train ride to Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy had mentined 'that red hair' and identified Ron as a Weasley before being introduced. "So, this curse means that all Weasleys would get the hair? Even those that married into the family?

Molly nodded sadly. "I had such wonderful full bodied dark hair before marrying Arthur. The night after our vows were said, it changed to this. No dye or glamour will cover up Weasley Red."

"But Fleur doesn't have the red hair!" Hermione said with a hint of jealousy in her voice.

"I am Veela, Hermione," the blonde woman said with a hint of her French accent softening the words. "No charm or curse about looks can take hold on a Veela. Victorie is also Veela so she inherited the blonde. If I had a son, I suspect he would receive the Red like his father."

Hermione sighed and wanted to bang her head on the kitchen table.

"Any other curses or bad news that my _loving_ husband forgot to mention?" she asked barely keeping from snarling in Ron's direction.

Molly looked at Fleur who shrugged as if to say, 'You tell her'.

"Birth control doesn't work on Weasley women until after the second child is born," Molly muttered.

* * *

><p>Just a hunorous idea on how Molly managed to have the same hair as all the other Weasley family members when she had not been born one.<p> 


	14. Dark Lord ? 2, the Prophecy

Prophecy: Dark Lord, Part 2

"_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. … Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies … and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not … and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives. … The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…_"

A dark haired teen was speaking to the assembled members of the Wizengamot. He was here to claim his inherited seats in the body but the normal type of speech was not in the offering today.

"That is the prophecy one Sybil Trelawney gave one evening in early 1980 to one Albus Yadda Yadda Yadda Dumbledore, a man with too many names, titles and jobs to any properly. It was a sign Albus believed to be that the end of Tom Riddle a.k.a. Lord Voldemort was imminent. Sadly, he was quite mistaken. It turns out that Albus is pants at divination and his keeping the prophecy secret and away from others prevented its proper extrapolation," the young man said to the member.

Up in the Chief Wizard's chair, Albus Dumbledore was fuming. The boy had told the Prophecy to everyone there! It had to be kept from the people or all of his plans would be ruined!

"Mr. Potter …," the old man tried to interrupt.

"I am speaking, Chief Wizard. You gave me leave to and I have not given up that right. You will be _silent_ until I have finished," Harry Potter looked back at the elderly wizard he once respected.

"The prophecy is rather cryptic but it does have a number of lines with various interpretations. Dumbles came up with his own and his actions over the past fifteen years have been directed at making that mistaken belief of his become reality. Many lives have been lost needlessly all in the pursuit of Dumbledore's vision of what this vague bit of poetry meant."

"'_The one with the power to vanquish the dark lord approaches._' Vague but can have several meanings anyway. The one able to vanquish a dark lord is either not yet born or in transit to the place where this not yet vanquished dark lord is. No time frame is given so it is hard to tell much from that first line. No idea of who this dark lord is anyway."

"'_Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies._' Well, now we have something that can identify the person who might vanquish this as yet unknown dark lord. It will be a person who will be born at the end of the seventh month to people who have defied this as yet undetermined dark lord."

"'_and the dark lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have a power the dark lord knows not.'_ More information on whom the vanquisher might be. It says 'him' and 'he' so that infers a male will fulfill this prophecy. It also states that this boy will have a special power of some kind; something that the dark lord has no idea about. But there is still more that must be considered here."

"' _and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives.'_ A very damning portion there I must say. The dark lord and the vanquisher are destined to fight in some fashion. One cannot live while the other survives. It means one must 'die'. It gives no idea which will live and which will die. Only that they must fight and one must die for the other to 'live'"

"'_the one with the power to vanquish the dark lord will be born as the seventh month dies.'_ That just reinforces the timing of the birth is in the future."

"Now, this prophecy was heard in its entirety solely by Albus Dumbledore during a job interview for Sybil Trelawney. He immediately hired the woman on the spot when he had been planning on allowing the course to be suspended at Hogwarts. It would have been another of many courses he allowed to be suspended at Hogwarts mind you but that is a problem for another time. Ms. Trelawney has not left the school since. One would think he is keeping her _prisoner_ or something," Harry said in a wry voice.

"Headmaster Dumbledore now had a prophecy in his hands. Oh, but what should he do with it? He HIDES it from everyone. After all, there is a war going on and there is a pesky dark lord out there. If the man should hear there is a prophecy about defeating a dark lord, he might do something to stop it and prevent his defeat. So, Dumbles sits on the prophecy and waits. He decides all by himself what it means, who it refers to and what should be done about it. Meanwhile, a copy was automatically created in the Department of Mysteries, proving this is a true prophecy and not some con job by Trelawney simply to get employment."

"Knowing a bit of the future is quite an important matter. After all, you have an advantage. So, what does our man do with this advantage? He is in charge of a private militia fighting against a rising menace to society. He decides he will halt all actions against Tom Riddle because he knows for certain that a savior is coming! Someone else will deal with this problem for them and the rest of the people in Britain will be saved thanks to this vanquisher's efforts and his sacrifice!"

Harry paused a moment to take a sip of water. On the dais behind him Albus Dumbledore is fuming. He is being bad mouthed by some pumped up teenager in a welcome speech in front of the Wizengamot. How dare this _boy_ challenge his interpretation of a very important prophecy!

The assembled members muttered in the slight break in Harry's speech. The red face of Dumbledore was obvious to the assembly. "Dumbledore looks like an angry Weasley up there," one member commented to his neighbor. That generated a small chuckle.

"So, lo and behold, the end of July, our seventh month rolls around and what happens? Two strapping young lads are born, Neville Frank Longbottom on July 30th and myself, Harry James Potter on July 31st. Dumbledore immediately goes to work. Both sets of parents have defied the Dark Lord Moldyshorts on numerous occasions. He decides one of these boys must be the child of the prophecy! Both lads show magic above normal standards within their first year. He is not sure which one is the one due to solve his problem. He must plan further because he must know so he can maneuver himself to be in the right place when the dark lord is defeated."

"During the original speaking of the prophecy, a Death Eater had been listening in. The young man involved did not hear the entire prophecy as he had been discovered. Now, Dumbles did something quite tragic here. He had prevented the eavesdropper from running to his master at the time, but now he allows the man to inform Tommy Boy about a threat to his power and control of Britain. Dumbles also tells the two families that their sons are in danger and they should hide. They of course believed in this 'great man' Albus Dumbledore. The man who vanquished Grindlewald. The Headmaster of Hogwarts. The man who had been teaching all of Wizarding Britain what to _think_ and _who to_ _obey_ for the past four decades. More the pity."

"Moving ahead to Halloween of 1981. The night when things get interesting. Tommy makes his move. He had found where the Potter family is hiding! They are not behind the powerful wards of Potter Manor. Wards that would slaughter his forces if he tried to breech them. No, they are staying in a small place in Godric's Hollow on the advice of Albus; hidden under a simple Fidelous charm. One that he learned the secret to because the family trusted the wrong man. Peter Pettigrew had been co-opted as a Death Eater months before and had been spying for Tom. Now, once only a few minor household wards were out of the way, the Potters would not live through the night."

"Alas, things did not go as planned for Tommy. The end results of the evening, James and Lily Potter; dead, baby Harry; wounded, Tommy; disembodied and a free spirit. Pettigrew makes off with Tommy's wand. Now, Dumbles' plan roars into action. Minutes later, people begin arriving. Sirius Black arrives after the Potter's alarm ward was tripped but too late to do more than rescue the baby from the battered house. He is followed a few minutes later by Rubeus Hagrid who had been told to go to the ruins and collect Harry. No mention is made of HOW Dumbles knows only Harry lived but Hagrid is a simply man and trusts Dumbledore without question."

"Sirius is convinced to turn over me to Hagrid so he can go hunt down the traitorous rat Pettigrew. Then Hagrid takes me to somewhere. But now is where things get dodgy. Word gets out very quickly about the events on Godric's Hollow. Much too quickly considering the press of Wizarding Britain was not present as it was late at night and there were no witnesses. But the next morning there in 64 pt print on the Daily Prophet is the headline, 'Dark Lord Defeated' with a lurid story about the death of 'You Know Who' and the 'Boy Who Lived'. Wizards all over Britain celebrate and even in broad daylight violating the Statute of Secrecy in their enthusiasm."

"We now move ahead to that evening. Like a thief in the dark of night, Dumbledore acts. A hero with a scar on his forehead is dropped like a milk delivery on the steps of his maternal aunt. Not only does this violate common decency, it is against the stated wishes of his dead parent's last will and testament. A basket, a note and a small swaddling blanket to protect from the November chill overnight. Bad form, Mr. Dumbledore. Bad form."

"The family found the child the next morning. Somehow, they took in the child they did not want. They to this day cannot explain why they did so. They only felt _compelled_ to bring him in and each time they tried to be rid of him to proper authorities, they felt _compelled_ and _forced_ to keep him in their care. As if some outside force as acting upon them. Quite interesting, that point. In their anger at the situation, they treated the hero like a house elf once he was old enough to do chores. The hero never knew his name was anything other than 'boy' until he had to attend compulsory muggle school."

A number of people in the audience grumbled at that statement and Dumbledore's eye twitched as he tried to keep anger from his face.

"Jumping ahead to 1991. The boy in question is just a few days from turning eleven and lo, a letter appears in the daily mail from a place called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This is the first time in his life the boy has even heard of such a place. His keepers had made sure to try to impress on him that the very idea of magic was not just ludicrous but a complete lie. But now faced with the truth, rather than concede that magic is real, the Dursley family ignores the letter and destroys it."

"Now, for most wizarding children this would mean that they would not be attending Hogwarts. In our case, days pass and each day more and more letters appear, growing more numerous by the day. All addressed to Harry Potter, The Cupboard Under the Stairs." At this point, Harry pulls out an unopened copy of the letter he had found later on before school began to show the Wizengamot.

"For someone that never been seen visiting me after dropping me off, Mr. Dumbledore was quite well informed on my living conditions and yet nothing was done about them. In fact, the whole of Wizarding Britain is familiar with the story of 'The-Boy-Who-Lived'. Books printed with his adventures as a child. Accurate drawings of what the boy looks like grace the covers of the story. When the hero's eyesight requires the use of glasses, 'The-Boy-Who-Lived' gets them as well. Uncanny, the coincidence, don't you think? But that is information for another time."

"I should finish addressing this so called prophecy. There are too many inconsistencies in the words compared to the facts involved. Mr. Dumbledore claims that by marking me with a scar, Tom Riddle marked me as his equal. But Tom had no scar. He was an orphan. Perhaps by making me an orphan he marked me as his equal? One cannot know for certain there. But what about a fifteen month old Harry Potter is equal with a fifty four year old Dark Lord? Very little I am afraid to guess."

"Other people have looked at the lines of this prophecy and come up with a very different interpretation, Mr. Dumbledore. Several groups working independently have come up with similar responses to the interpretation of this cryptic verse. That Tom Marvolo Riddle never was the Dark Lord spoken of in this case but it was another Dark Lord entirely."

The assembled Wizengamot grumbled and Harry knew he must press on quickly.

"All do agree that I am the one mentioned in it. I pulled the orb from the shelf after all. So, if Tom Riddle is not the Dark Lord, who is? What makes Harry Potter equal to anyone? What does Harry Potter have that could possibly match up with our unknown Dark Lord?" Harry asked rhetorically.

"Hmm, half blood, powerful, supposedly vanquished a Dark Lord, dashing in his own way." Harry waggled his eyebrows at a scowling Amelia Bones but the woman was looking past Harry. "I see some people are connecting the facts to reality. Someone who will not let me enjoy my life while he survives nor can he enjoy his while I survive. Someone who marked me as his equal in the deed of destroying a Dark Lord by revealing the fall of Voldemort. Continually raising my acclaim with the public until it rivaled his own and crediting me with the victory my parents' sacrifice earned every six months with the books his publishing house, Phoenix Press, printed."

The faces of the Wizengamot looked at Dumbledore and back to Harry, ready to protest when Harry's voice sounded louder than ever.

"Someone not seen as a Dark Lord by many but having existed as one since he and his _lover_ Gellert Grindelwald jointly developed their philosophy of 'The Greater Good'. Someone who has sacrificed the lives of dozens of people faithful to him to protect a single _spy_ who is not even loyal to him. Someone who with a small claim that a person is 'going dark' will get his stormtroopers to turn on them. Someone who has taken what was one of the greatest schools of magic in the world and reduced it to a joke, ranked 57th and dead last among national schools in the magical world. Someone who lies, cheats and steals to maintain his positions of power while protesting loudly he does not wish to lead. Someone who will allow others to be blamed for errors while he keeps hold of the real power. The things the people learn in school, what they read in the news, what they even believe is right and wrong. Someone who allows the guilty to go free and the innocent to be punished and go to jail without trial. Someone who has made …"

"ENOUGH!" shouted Dumbledore as he pulled his wand and pointed it at Harry. Harry looked at Dumbledore with sad eyes, mocking the ancient man with his own manipulative look.

"Someone named Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore," Harry calmly finished before he dodged a stunner fired at him by the Chief Wizard.

"I HAVE HEARD ENOUGH OF YOUR LIES, MR. POTTER!" Dumbledore roared in anger. "I AM NO DARK LORD! VOLDEMORT IS!"

"But you are mistaken Mr. Dumbledore. You see, last night, the person known as Tom Riddle entered the Hall of Prophecies in the Department of Mysteries. He attempted to remove the orb containing the prophecy. This orb, Mr. Dumbledore," Harry said in a quiet voice as he held up a glass sphere for a second time. "He died in the process, his soul destroyed utterly by attempting to remove a prophecy that was never about him to begin with. I however, managed to safely remove it, thus proving I am indeed mentioned in it. A great risk, mind you, but one I was willing to take to free myself from this half life; this existence without hope that has been forced upon me for most of my life. As with a previous potential killing curse, I survived to continue living on once again. That simply left the Dark Lord mentioned to be identified."

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore looked on in shocked disbelief after Harry stopped and stared at the young man standing calmly at the speaker's platform as the Wizengamot watched in silence.

"You are everything I said and more, Mr. Dumbledore," Harry stated as he pulled his own wand. "I think it is time that you were vanquished. You see 'the power the dark lord knows not' was never love as you believed. The power is something just as precious. Truth. Something you said was 'a beautiful and terrible thing and should therefore be treated with great caution'. Something you are very unfamiliar with and do no longer speak or know, Mr. Dumbledore."

Then the Battle began.

**Note:** I left it at this point for a reason. I want the reader to decide for themselves on who would win the fight. Even if he wins the fight, Dumbledore had already lost; already been 'vanquished' as his power was broken when his manipulations were revealed.

**Soap Box:** Of course I twisted a lot of things in ways JKR never did but in each point is the grain of truth. Dumbledore's actions match the prophecy. By allowing the myth of 'The-boy-Who-Lived' to flourish when he could have stopped it early on with a simple statement, he let the boy be seen as his equal; each beat a Dark Lord. I took liberty with the points of who told the press and used the trope of the sealed will. The education standard shown in canon at Hogwarts is atrocious at best and criminally negligent at worst. Half the core subjects are worthless for most students; History, DADA and Potions. COMC under Hagrid is not much better. Trelawney and Divination. Muggle Studies. No other arts or sciences are mentioned.

I do understand that Harry Potter is a children's book and I am applying adult standards to it. But while entertaining, the caricatures made of the characters shown in the early books are too much for the later more adult oriented stories to overcome.

Bows and jumps off his Soap Box.

**Personal Notes:** I am back after a fashion. A new job, a mostly working repaired eye and a large pile of debts to pay off from a few months of not working. Inspiration is slow but writing is happening again. My Naruto story fans who see the author alert and checked in here, do not fear. The next installment of Captured IS being worked on and plotted out along with Split as my evenings allow.


	15. Manipulators

**Manipulators**

During 6th year Eaters invasion of Hogwarts.

* * *

><p>Harry was angry at many people this term. He was angry at Hermione for giving him constant hassles about his so called cheating with the Half Blood Prince's potions book. He was angry at Ron for being a prat. He was angry at Snape for ruining his favorite class, Defense against the Dark Arts. He was angry at Tom Riddle simply for sending his foul experiences over their mental connection each night. But his greatest anger was for Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, the Headmaster of the school and general busybody who tried to direct Harry's life to the smallest detail.<p>

The Headmaster had taken 9 months to show him information that could have been imparted over a single afternoon back in September. Now, none of that information was worth a wooden galleon. The knowledge he had gotten from reversing the connection to Riddle trumped all of it and Harry could solve this problem in a single evening. The fact that the Death Eaters would be invading Hogwarts led him to prepare for it in a unique way. He turned his thoughts to the connection and mentally urged the Dark Lord that he should lead the raid and be the one to strike down Dumbledore himself in front of his best followers.

The first Death Eater through the cabinet found it odd that Draco was not there to meet them but a note left behind stated that all the students were required to be in the Great Hall for a presentation. Dozens more followed with the Dark Lord striding out last.

"My Lord, Draco left a message that the students are all gathered in the Great Hall," the minion reported.

"Excellent," the homunculus stated as he led off with a flourish of his wand for his Death Eaters to follow.

* * *

><p>Minutes later, the entourage entered the Hall to see all the tables full of waiting children with the entire staff at the Head Table. The sounds of panic spread but none of the students tried to leave. Once the last Death Eater had entered the Hall, the massive doors swung shut and locked behind them.<p>

"Welcome Tom and your merry band of miscreants," the voice of Harry Potter sounded out. "I think we have a problem to settle tonight."

"Potter," Voldemort sneered as he looked for the person who had spoken.

"Finite," called out Harry and the illusion of a full Hall vanished along with the House tables. Only a line of chairs in front of the Head Table remained in view and occupied. In each chair was the bound child of a Death Eater along with every marked student in the castle.

"I invited a few more of your friends to our little get together if you don't mind. I assumed all of your main supporters should be here to see your moment," Harry said in a mild voice as he dropped his invisibility cloak to the ground. "You see I wanted to have a little chat; just between us Tom; before we get down to business"

A crack sounded as Albus Dumbledore apparated into the Great Hall with his wand out and ready.

"That would not be a good idea, Harry," Dumbledore said.

"And our final guest arrives in dramatic fashion even though he has been in the hall listening since this all started. Did you enjoy the wild goose chase earlier? A cave by the sea with a young lad in tow and drinking at you age, Headmaster. For shame," Harry stated.

One Death Eater raised his wand and fired a killing curse at Harry before Voldemort could stop the man. Harry merely stepped to one side and the curse killed Pansy Parkinson who had been tied directly behind where Harry had been standing.

"Oh, bad form. Now Parkinson needs a new heir," Harry chided. "Now before your Munchers decide to do anything else foolish like try to blast the doors, I would like to call your attention to the delightful accessories these fine guests are wearing."

Harry moved behind Draco and roughly pulled the teens head back to show off the collar around his neck. A gray lump of clay like material hung close to the throat of the blond Malfoy. Harry held up a small device and pushed a button on it. A light appeared on each collar.

"What you are looking at is a small explosive device on each one of the guests. Remember the Blitz, Tom? These are just like the ones the muggles planes dropped from the sky but rigged to go off by magic. Should anyone fire a curse or spell in here now, they will explode and remove the head of each person wearing one. Since most of their fathers are with you, I think that should keep them in line while we talk," Harry said bluntly.

"Everyone stand down and do nothing without my command," Voldemort ordered before stepping forward to talk to Harry.

"That includes you are well Headmaster. No under the table compulsion spells, you understand? I would hate for you to be responsible for the deaths of all of these … 'innocents'," Harry finished with a light snort.

"You would kill all of these students, Harry? That is quite dark," Dumbledore said trying to take control of the situation.

"I would not be killing anyone," Harry said. "You would be if you cast something. I might have set up the situation but they are safe and unharmed as long as no one does anything rash, like try to play the hero. After all, I am only following your logic just as you have told me each year when you tried to guilt trip me into feeling responsible for Cedric's and Sirius' deaths."

"My my my," Voldemort chuckled out. "Quite ruthless my boy. I didn't know a follower of Dumbledore could be so malicious. It is almost enough to make you a job offer. Although it would be a short job as some fathers would be having an issue with you afterwards. You would not be in my employ very long as one would insure your quick death."

"Well, a quick death might be better than the slower one Dumbledore has planned out for me," Harry said as he sat in the Headmaster's throne. "He plotted out my life and ultimate sacrifice leading to your destruction in minute detail. Of course, he made a mistake when he found you mother's family ring and poisoned himself, but even the best puppet master makes mistakes sometimes."

Harry noticed Voldemort shudder at the mention of the ring.

"I mean he felt I should die because of some nonsense regarding my scar and the bit of magic you left behind there back in '81. A cursebreaker is already arranged to have that fixed tomorrow in spite of him by the way. Then he had the gall to try to arrange a marriage for me with Ginny Weasley of all people. I mean seriously, he couldn't do better than that? I can name off several dozen Slytherins, Ravenclaws and Hufflepufffs would be better matches for me. And can you imagine Molly Weasley as a mother in law? I would be welcoming death in mere months if that ever happened."

Several Death Eaters chuckled at that comment but Harry pressed on.

"Tomorrow I am leaving Britain, Tom. I do not plan to ever return. These sheeple are narrow minded inbred morons who cannot see they are being lied to by both sides. So, I am removing myself from the crossfire. I heard the American West is a nice place to live. So I had Gringotts buy me a ranch in the state of Texas. There is plenty of room for me to fly my broom and no one to bother me for miles in any direction."

"No Harry, you can't leave. I will not allow it. You are needed here and your actions will guarantee the Greater Good for all of us," Dumbledore said still thinking Harry would be swayed like always.

"Oh, do shut up old man! You really need to keep that 'Greater Good' shite to yourself for once. If you had the stones to do what was right instead of what was easy back in '81 when my parents were killed none of this would be happening now. You blew it by punishing the innocent instead of the guilty. At least you never had the temerity to breed and inflict future generation of 'Dumb as Doors' on the rest of us. Now shut your pudding hole and let me finish my cease fire negotiations."

Harry turned to Voldemort as Dumbledore flinched as if struck by Harry's disrespect.

"So, my deal is this. I leave Britain. I never return willingly. I will not fight you or your minions in the future unless I am first attacked. Dumbledore looses his best piece on the board in the process. What do you say?"

"An interesting thought," Voldemort stated. "But how do we solve this impasse we are in right now? I cannot simply allow you to threaten the children of my followers with death. When someone casts the spell to unlock the door, they will die. If you shut them off, my followers will kill you. So, how do we resolve this?"

Harry reached down beside the throne and pull up a coil of rope.

"I came prepared with a voice activated portkey. It will not set off the bombs. It will take you and all holding it to a point over land four hundred miles from here," Harry said as he tossed to coil to Voldemort.

Dumbledore was going to protest but Voldemort spoke first.

"I accept with two conditions. The first is your word that the portkey is safe and will deliver us to our destination unharmed. The second is that all of your 'guests' accompany us. I do not want them in your hands as captives," Voldemort stated knowing he secured the safety of his follower's children and binding them tighter to him.

Harry sighed in defeat. "Fine they may accompany you. As far as my word, I give my word as a wizard that the portkey I gave you will transport all touching it safely when activated to a point over land four hundred miles from here.

Minutes crawled by as the Junior Death Eaters were released from their bindings and moved to stand with the adults. Several Death Eaters glared and Lucius whispered to Voldemort.

"My Lord, you are really going to let Potter go?" he asked.

"Of course not. The foolish Gryffindor left so many holes in his agreement that I can simply have him killed once he is out of Britain. We win no matter what," he said as all of the Death Eaters took hold of the rope. Voldemort looked to Harry and asked, "The activation code?"

"Simply say 'Goodbye Harry'," Harry replied.

"Goodbye, Harry," Voldemort said with a slight smile and vanished with his followers.

* * *

><p>Dumbledore pulled his wand out and pointed it at Harry. "That was a very dark act my boy. Bargaining with Tom like that to leave Britain was never in the plans. I see now that you must be kept under watch until you can accept your destiny and marry young Ginevra before you kill Tom for us. Now where did you send Tom and his followers?"<p>

"Maybe in your plans but mine are much different than yours. I will not marry Ginny as she is a non issue now. I called in her life debt and enslaved her before selling her to the goblins. Livestock has no right to marry after all. You really need to examine what you are drinking a bit closer Headmaster. Strange potions might not be what they seem. Muggles ingredients do not always show up on a magical scan. You might even have poisoned yourself. As far as Tom and his merry men, I did exactly what I said I would. I sent them four hundred miles from here," Harry said leaning back into the throne and putting his feet up on the Head Table.

Dumbledore wavered slightly as his vision grayed a bit and he suddenly felt very tired. Harry pulled out a watch and looked at it before saying 'Hasta la vista, Dumbledore' to activate the watch portkey and vanishing.

* * *

><p>"Goodbye, Harry," Voldemort said with a slight smile and vanished with his followers.<p>

Voldemort knew something was wrong the moment the portkey left. Instead of the normal motion he knew from previous portkey use, this time the spinning seemed to pull his weight to his feet. He felt it stop and his next sight was darkness. The feeling he felt was one of intense cold and falling. He gasped but could not breathe. He twisted to see what was wrong when he saw a blue and white mass in the distance and all of his followers arrayed around him dying. The shape of Britain and Ireland were plain below him. His homunculus body froze almost instantly but his mind remained trapped and aware for nearly thirty seconds. His last conscious memory was Harry's voice in his head.

"Four hundred miles. Straight up. The Sorting Hat told me I would do well in Slytherin."

* * *

><p><strong>End Notes:<strong> This was the last Harry Potter snippet I had saved on my flash drive. To get anything more written I really need to find where my muse is being held captive. Progress on other writing is continued slow going as I fight fatigue and lack of desire to write since the eye surgery last June.

Harry is quite 'dark' in this one but solves the problem of the core Death Eaters completely. No money for freedom here and Harry leaves the ring cursed and poisoned Dumbles to his own fate as well. Britain will have to take care of the remaining followers on their own. He who manipulates last wins everything.


	16. Hearts and Bigots

**Hearts and Bigots**

Hogwarts, During Half Blood Prince

Hermione Granger was frowning as she read the Daily Prophet for some idea of what was going on in British Wizarding Society. The news of Death Eater attacks was scary but the larger problem she saw was something no one else seemed to notice. The writer had referred to the victims as 'just a muggleborn and its family'. She flushed angrily at the blatant racism involved in the reporting. She showed the news to her somewhat crush and possible love interest, Ron Weasley. She pointed out the offending line to Ron.

"Look Ron, see what the writer said; 'Just a muggleborn and _its_ family'?" she asked the redhead.

Ron paused long enough to swallow his mouthful of food before her replied.

"Yeah, sad news," was his only response. Ron sounded bored when he spoke.

Hermione bristled up under the blasé reply of Ron. "Ron, the writer called the person killed an IT. They didn't even say if the person killed was a witch or wizard, just a 'muggleborn'. Someone was killed along with their whole family and the writer treated them like they were something that didn't even have an identity! 'Just a muggleborn'! Like she or he was some sort of animal!"

Ron looked confused at Hermione. He could not understand why she was going on about this.

"It's not like it was a wizard family that was killed! It was just some muggles, no one important!" he blathered out.

Hermione blinked in shock as her brain had to literally reset after what Ron said.

"No one important? That is the same attitude a Death Eater has," Hermione said in a soft voice. She noted Ron did not reply as his attention had already shifted to the food in front of him. She felt her heart spasm as her mind kicked into high gear. Without another word, she pushed away from the table and stood to leave.

Ron noticed her getting up and tried to eat faster so he could go with Hermione. However she walked quickly out of the Great Hall without another word to anyone. Before Ron had swallowed, the bushy haired witch was long gone.

"Mental, that one," he said to the 4th year sitting across from him. The muggleborn boy just glared at Ron but made no reply.

* * *

><p>Hermione strode through the halls and up the various flights of stairs until she came to the Room of Requirement. She paced the hallway back and forth three times and waited for the door to open. It revealed a target range and many breakable items. The door closed with a soft thump. Seconds later, the sounds of crashes .and explosions could be dimly heard.<p>

Hermione systematically destroyed everything she could see in the ROR with high powered hexes and explosive spells. Minutes passed before the tears from her heartache began to roll down her cheeks. She doubled her efforts as she had the Room reset the targets to be mannequins that had red hair before dressing them in Death Eater robes. She rubbed her eyes clear with the cuff of her jumper before glaring at the targets.

"No one important!" she hissed out before sending a new wave of cutting and dismemberment curses down at the targets that all looked like Ronald Bilious Weasley. One by one the mannequins fell in pieces until her rage was spent.

She would not accept apologies this time from the redhead. This was one time too many that he spoke his mind and showed his true inner feelings. She had known since meeting him that he was a pureblood but she had never truly considered him as being like Malfoy and those supremacists. But now, now she could no longer push aside the doubts. If seemed on a weekly basis he said something callus to her or about her and over and over she had forgiven him. His insults had led to her being in the bathroom that first Halloween at Hogwarts. The troll came closer to killing her than she would admit at the time but now she saw events from a more mature perspective. Harry had saved her with Ron's help so she had forgiven him then. But if he had not been hurling insults, she would never have been there for the troll to find.

'Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned,' she thought as she sliced up another Death Eater Ron mannequin. 'The often forgotten opening to a more popular saying,' she thought. But she was not scorned as the second part said; she was simply not considered 'important'. Her mind raced along as her superb memory recalled every insult, every put down, every instance of him cajoling her to 'check over' his homework. 'Check over' translated into doing it for Ron more often than not. 'Thank you' was also Ron Weasley never said unless Harry said it first in Ron's presence.

Hexes flew out slower as she began to break down. She had tried so hard to gain his favor this year but Ron only had eyes and lips for 'Lav-Lav'. Tears ran down her face as she looked over her action this past year. She had pushed Harry away in favor of Ron. She had allowed herself to grow mad over a damned potions book as an excuse to do it as well. Her wand soon fell from exhausted fingers before she fell to her knees and wept out the pain she felt deep in her soul.

Hermione Granger had forsaken her heart for a second best choice to avoid being alone in the future. But her gambit had failed completely. She was alone once more. However, this time it was through no one's fault but her own.

* * *

><p>"Mr. Potter, where is Miss Granger?" Professor McGonagall asked in Transfiguration.<p>

"I … I don't know, Professor," Harry replied. "I haven't seen her since before breakfast."

Parvati spoke up. "Ron made her upset again during breakfast and she walked out of the Great Hall holding back tears."

Harry spun to face the redhead who had a clueless look on his face.

"I never said anything to her Harry! Honest! She was just going on about some family the Death Eaters killed that was mentioned in the paper this morning. Then she left in a huff," Ron said.

"That wouldn't be enough to set her off, Ron. Who was the article about?" Harry pressed.

"I don't know. Just some muggles the Death Eaters killed. It's not like anyone important died!" Ron stated.

Harry narrowed his gaze at Ron as the Transfiguration classroom seems to grow chilled. A few of the muggleborn students in the room added their own glares at the redhead. He had a copy of the 'Prophet' with him and pulled it out as Professor McGonagall looked on. He found the article and looked it over, also noticing the 'its family' comment. He crushed the paper and picked up his bag before heading for the classroom door.

"Mr. Potter, where do you think you are going?" McGonagall asked in a cross voice.

"To find Hermione. The last time that Ron made her go off crying alone she nearly got killed by a troll. I am not going to let something like that happen to her again. If you have an issue with it Professor, then I'll gladly accept a detention _after_ I know she is all right," Harry said with a neutral look on his face before walking out of the classroom.

McGonagall looked at the empty doorway for a moment before smiling softly for an instant. "10 points for being a true friend, Mr. Potter," she whispered before schooling her expression back to her normal stern countenance and facing the class once more.

* * *

><p>Harry walked down the hallway until he came to an open room that was empty. He pulled the Marauder's Map from his bag and opened it.<p>

"Show me Hermione Granger," he instructed it. Nothing happened so he frowned. Few rooms of the castle were not on the map so he headed for the most obvious one, the Room of Requirement.

When he approached the wall shifted to show a door even before he had walked up to the stretch he would need to pace. It seemed like the castle knew his intent before he had arrived. He pulled the door open to see something that hurt him greatly. Hermione collapsed on her knees, weeping. His heart thumped in his chest as he dropped his bag inside the doorway while the door slid shut behind him.

Harry moved next to his best friend and knelt beside her. He gently wrapped his arms around the weeping girl and pulled her close to his chest. Hermione only shifted slightly as she instinctively turned her face into his chest. The magic of the room responded to him as a couch formed and rose from the floor underneath the pair lifting them up off the ground. He only continued holding Hermione as she was lost in her tears.

Hermione was emotionally spent before the crying slowed and she noticed arms around her and a couch beneath her. She cautiously lifted her head off a soggy chest to focus on Harry's green eyes.

"Harry?" she whimpered. "Why are you here?"

The green eyed boy smiled softly at her before brushing hair from her face.

"Because my friend needed me," he replied.

"I'm not a friend," she wailed as tears came once more. "I'm an awful person. I treated you badly all year and you're supposed to hate me."

"Well, you have been a bit off this year but that's not a reason to toss out years of friendship now is it?" he said holding her a small bit tighter.

"But I was awful! I got on you for everything! Even things that weren't your fault!" she wailed lowering her face to his wet chest once more and wept.

"It's not like you were doing it on purpose," Harry chided the crying girl in his arms.

Hermione shuddered and looked up snuffling.

"But I was," she whispered. "You didn't care for me like I had hoped you would. So I decided I would push you away. Get you to not like me so my heart could settle for Ron without regrets. But that wasn't working like I hoped."

Harry listened in silence as he let Hermione bare her soul.

"Ron turns out to be upsetting me more and more. He always eats like a swine, he doesn't respect me at all and he doesn't even care if he hurts my feelings until he wants something from me. But today trumped all of that. He didn't even notice what the paper printed even when I pointed it out to him. 'Just some muggles. No one important died.' That was too much for me, Harry. I can't pretend anymore. My heart can't take it."

"Ronald Bilious Weasley is a bigot," she stated as fresh tears slid down her cheeks.

"Oh, I know he doesn't mean to be one but it is how he was raised. Wizards are better than non wizards in everything is all he thinks. He doesn't even think he is a bigot or biased at all. But whenever he says something without censoring his words first, his true attitude shows. In the core of things, there is no difference in that view between him and a Death Eater."

"Not that Ron would become one. He just doesn't see things clearly. I know he can grow to be a better person but I just can't take it anymore. If I could hang on until he grows up, I think I could handle being Hermione Weasley but I would have to give up all of my dreams in the process of waiting for him."

Harry held Hermione close as she cried a bit longer. When she had calmed down, he spoke again.

"So what does Hermione Granger want then? What dreams does she dream for herself?" he asked softly.

Hermione blushed slightly at the question. "Well, the normal things that people dream about. Nothing special really," she waffled not wanting to tell some of her secret dreams and fantasies.

"Forget everyone else, Hermione. Be selfish. Change the universe to suit you. Forget what other people want or expect. Forget all you know, or think you know," he said in a strange voice and a chuckle.

Hermione smiled weakly at the movie reference. She wiggled her forefinger under his nose before saying "I already know which finger can change the universe, Mr. High Aldwin. But it is not that easy."

"Sure it is. You're a witch after all. You have the power to change things to suit yourself. So if anything were possible, what would you make possible?" Harry asked.

"Well, I would definitely expand S.P.E.W. I would make the wizarding world something to be proud of," she began when Harry's finger pressed to her lips.

"That is an adults plans for the future, Hermione. I am talking what hopes and dreams you have for you. Things you wanted as a little girl. Before you knew magic was real, what did you wish for as a little girl?" Harry pressed.

Hermione sat quiet for a minute before she finally spoke.

"Good friends, acceptance for who I was without having to act silly. I would take the chance to show off magic for my grandparants. Have a career after schooling, a husband who would compliment me as a person and balance me out. Have a family in time, good children, a happy life," she listed things she had dreamed of once upon a time.

Harry nodded. "So, tell me about this highly mythical husband who could possibly deal with you and balance you out. What would he be like?" he asked smiling, enjoying his friend being candid instead of asking questions or being bossy.

"He would have to be brave, kind, caring. Someone I could talk to and unload all of my problems on and have him understand me. A person I could have a serious conversation with and not need to worry about losing them over a difference of opinion. A person I could have an intense argument with and then turn around and be able to laugh about the very argument together. Rich would be nice but not required. Good looking would be another plus," she finished her description as her mind put together the things her heart already knew.

"Someone like you," she whispered surprising both of them.

"Like me?" Harry said in awe. "I'm nothing like that. I couldn't be half of that. I'm damaged goods, Hermione. I've known that for a long time."

"Aren't we all though, Harry?" she said in response to his statement. She knew at some point she had ended up on Harry's lap on a couch with no knowledge of getting there but she took advantage now and snuggled into his chest. "I care about you a lot Harry. Maybe even love you. I have for years now but I wouldn't let myself see until I said it all out loud. I was just hurting me by being cruel to you all year. But my heart would not let you go in spite of my head's best efforts. It knew I loved you and my head didn't want to risk it losing you by being romantic if you didn't want that with me. So I went for second best. I knew Ginny wanted you so I figured you could go for her. She is prettier after all."

"I'm not really interested in Ginny. She is nice and all but there is not much depth there past her looks. Plus she has had three boyfriends already at Hogwarts. I always thought that you and Ron had a thing going since Third Year. At least that is what he said back then. That you both liked each other and were still working things out," Harry said looking down. "So I didn't do anything to get in the way of that."

Hermione snorted at that. "I have never had any kind of relationship agreement with Ronald Weasley. I've never had a real relationship with anyone; either here or in the regular world. No one really worth the effort," she huffed. "Couldn't you see that?"

"No, not really," Harry admitted. "There was never any kind of example for me to learn about love for most of my life. I never really tried too hard with finding romance in any case. I figured I would not have much of a chance at anything anyhow with Tom after me. I would just break their heart if I managed to get killed and left them alone."

"Harry James Potter, with your luck you just might outlive us all," Hermione huffed sounding more like her normal self. "You need to make a list of things that Harry Potter wants out of life so you can plan for things later on."

"But thinking on things right now I did realize something both of us were missing. You held back because of Ron pursuing me and I held back because of Ginny pursuing you. Well, Ron is busy inspecting 'Lav-Lav's tonsils with his tongue each night and Ginny is busy doing the same with Dean," Hermione said with a slight chuckle.

"That means neither of us has a potential romance in the immediate future to hold us back. So, I think that an invitation to Hogsmeade for this weekend is in order and your reply had better not be 'No' Mr. Potter," Hermione finished primly.

"Are you asking me out, Miss Granger?" Harry replied in his best fake upper class accent.

"I had better, Mr. Potter. It would be a hot day in Scotland before you got off your arse long enough to ask me," she said with a ghost of a grin.

The Beginning.

* * *

><p>Addendum to 'Weasley Red'<p>

* * *

><p>The 'Dumbledore's Army' reunion was going well this year. At some point the conversation turned to new wands. Most of the witches and wizards there had outgrown their 'First Wand' from Olivander and gotten custom wands made to work better with their now grown up magic.<p>

Harry Potter had gotten a holly and griffon feather wand from a crafter on the continent that worked better for him than his original one. He knew the repair job on it with the Elder wand would eventually fade so a new one was in order. Neville still kept his cherry wand as he had gotten it before 6th year.

Names of wand crafters from around the globe were brought up and discussed as the products were shown off. Through it all, Hermione Weasley nee Granger sat reading a large tome on curse breaking. Her only motions were turning pages and shifting her eyes as she digested the volume. She heard everything around her and looked up when she was asked a question.

"So, Hermione. Who do you think makes the best magic wands?" someone had asked from the group.

She lifted her head and a lock of hair fell across her face; a lock of unmanageable, stringy, Weasley Red hair. If that had been the only curse laid upon her by marrying Ron she could have dealt with it. But the addition of birth control not working and a libido turned up to 11 as well left her quite grumpy most nights.

She would only let Ron touch her a few times a month in spite of his protests that they were married now. She was not having a child before age 25 if she could prevent it. The timing of their lovemaking insured she most likely would not get pregnant and so far in the first six months of the marriage it had worked.

She pushed the loose hair behind her ear and glared at her husband. She turned her face to the rest of the group and smiled a bit before saying one word.

"Hitachi."

Then she went back to reading.

* * *

><p><strong>Authors note:<strong> One more short that jumped out as I was working on my Naruto stories. Wherevre my muse has been must have arranged a work release program for it as I have been able to get words down to my satisfation but not often. I have the next chapter of Captured up to 3000 words and plotted out through the end of the current arc in it. "Split' is the same way and a final chapter for part 1 of 'The Will Born in Fire' is shaping up nicely. Work and bills remain uncompromising as always since life continues onward. I realized it has been more than 5 years and 2.3 million combined page views since my first posting on FF. Thank you to all who have read my work in the past and I hope there will continue to be more in the future. I cannot figure out where the intervening time disappeared to but I also remember it passing me by.


	17. Messing with Dumbles

Messing with Dumbledore

**Goblet of Fire - Halloween**

When Albus Dumbledore called out his name, Harry Potter wanted to bang his head on the table. Why couldn't he just catch a break? Every damn year something happened on Halloween to him. First year, it was the troll. Second year it was the basilisk. Third year it was Sirius Black tearing into the Gryffindor dorms. Now, this year he was chosen for a Tournament he was not even eligible to enter.

"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore called out again but Harry refused to move or acknowledge his name was called.

Hermione Granger, his best female friend nudged Harry so the dark haired boy could not pretend ignorance any longer. He sighed and turned in his seat to face the Headmaster.

"Mr. Potter, your name has been chosen to participate in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Please go through the far door to wait with the other Champions," the old man said in an almost smug tone.

"I find that difficult to believe Headmaster, seeing as I did not declare myself eligible for said Tournament," Harry replied in a tone loud enough that all people the Great Hall could hear him.

"Your name came out of the Goblet of Fire so that means you had to have entered yourself. It is a binding contract and you must now participate. I do not think you should keep the other Champions waiting," the old man said with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Harry casually pulled out his wand and spoke in a loud clear voice. "I Harry Potter swear on my life and magic that I did not enter my name into the Tournament nor did I ask anyone of age to do so in my stead," the teen said in a loud clear voice. A burst of light sealed his oath and once the light had passed Harry cocked an eyebrow at the Headmaster.

"It seems as I am still alive I must not have entered myself into you little tournament. Therefore, someone else placed my name into the Goblet without my knowledge or consent. As such things as binding contracts require willing participation, I fail to see how I could be bound to this one," Harry said

Dumbledore growled under his breath while barely keeping his kindly façade in place. The boy was not following orders.

"Be that as it may, I must insist that you join the other Champions in the meeting room through the door so we can get on with the Tournament briefing."

Harry noticed the minor flaring of Dumbledore's nostrils as the man spoke and decided to play things out a bit more.

"But Headmaster, I am not old enough to participate as only someone of age or recognized as an adult can enter the Tri-Wizard Tournament," Harry insisted.

"Your name was drawn and you are bound to participate, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said with a hint of obvious annoyance in his tone.

Harry had an idea and his inner Slytherin chuckled with delight as it. He took a moment to slowly stand as he composed his next statement carefully.

"Headmaster, you are the Chief Wizard of the Wizengamot, and as such the highest judicial voice in Wizarding Britain. Are you saying that I meet all the requirements necessary to participate in this Tournament?" Harry calmly asked

"You are bound to participate and you will go meet with the other Champions," Dumbledore said in an obviously annoyed tone.

'Gotcha,' Harry thought before speaking once more. One more clarification was all he needed.

"So I am eligible then?" he asked once more.

Dumbledore had already lost patience with the troublesome boy and roared his reply.

"Yes, you are! Now, go!" the old man roared not noticing the minor flash of magic that associated his outburst.

Harry looked at the red faced old man and stepped away from the Gryffindor table. He slowly stepped past the Headmaster as he walked toward the doorway indicated. His trip was stopped when a girl's lacy white knickers landed on his shoulder. He looked back in the direction it had come from. Susan Bones at the Hufflepuff table was a blushing beet red with a smile on her face and shyly pointing at herself. But what he saw behind her at the Slytherin table was more noticeable.

Most of the Slytherin students in his year and up that did not actively dislike him were looking at him with calculating stares on the part of the girls or nods of approval from the boys. Daphne Greengrass had a glassy eyed lustful stare while biting her bottom lip and trying to stop squirming in her seat. Harry winked at her and gave a sly smirk before sliding the knickers into his pocket. He continued to head through the door and Daphne's whimpering moan was easily heard in the Great Hall. The sound of conversations starting barely came through the doorway before he shut the door behind him.

* * *

><p>The following morning at breakfast, he found Susan to talk to her. She dragged Harry out to the hallway and made sure they were not near any portraits. Her aunt had told her about what they did at Hogwarts in reporting to the Headmaster.<p>

"Harry, do you realize what you did last night?" she whispered to him.

"I think so, Susan. I got Dumbledore to say in public that I was eligible to enter a tournament that requires a person to be of age or recognized as an adult. As I am only 14, that would mean the highest judicial official in the land recognized me as an adult. I sent off Hedwig last night to get the paperwork filed with the Ministry and the Goblins of Gringotts," Harry said with the same smirk as the night before. "I don't think he has realized that just yet, however, but he will soon enough."

Harry paused before continuing and pulls the knickers from his pocket. "Um, you want these back?" he asked holding the dainty bit of lace crumpled in his palm out to her.

Susan smiled and gently closed his fingers over the undergarment. "A present to think about me with," she said even as her face turned more red than the night before she rose up on her toes and kissed his cheek and headed back into the Great Hall.

Harry returned his trophy to his pocket to head in for his own breakfast and the waiting Miss Granger who would certainly have far too many questions for him.


	18. Time

**Graveyard, After the third Task of the Triward Tournement**

Harry Potter looked on helplessly as Wormtail took the vial of his blood back to the cauldron. He pulled weakly at the ropes holding him even knowing he could not free himself.

"Blood of the enemy forcibly taken you will resurrect your …," he said before a stunner laid him low.

Harry looked over at the old woman with bushy gray hair who stepped out of the shadows. "That is enough of that you fool." She said in a scratchy voice. The traitorous Marauder was bound and floated to the far side of the cauldron. The vial of blood was vanished by the crone before she stepped any closer. The woman seemingly paid no attention to Harry as she limped up to the cauldron and peered into the murky depths. After she inspected the contents for several minutes she nodded and looked over to Harry.

"I'll have you free shortly Harry. I must do something else first." She said before almost cackling like old witches in stories would. She pulled out a bag and removed a half dozen items and one by one tossed them into the cauldron. She muttered loud enough for Harry to hear as each fell into the liquid.

Dairy of Tom Marvolo Riddle, Gaunt Family Ring, Diadem of Ravenclaw, Locket of Slytherin, Cup of Hufflepuff, Heart of Nagini. One last bit and the ritual can commence," she whispered as she turned to Harry.

"I am sorry for this Harry but it is necessary," she said in a caring tone before she cast a spell to heal his bleeding arm. She looked up at his scar and moved the skin around it in a gentle but firm motion. "Still there, good," she muttered before she froze Harry head in place but only left him the ability to speak.

The woman took out something that looked like a grease pencil from her bag and began drawing on Harry's forehead. She chewed softly on her bottom lip as she worked reminding Harry of his best friend, Hermione Granger.

Harry got a good look at the old woman's face now. She was much older than appeared fro ma distance. Line after line of age and worry marked her face but her eyes were the most striking. They gleaned with an intelligence he saw in one other person in his short life and they looked the same, right down to a same detail on the right iris he always found fascinating.

"Hermione?" he whispered as the woman only paid mind to his scar and muttered under her breath while drawing runes and other symbols around it.

The old woman looked at Harry and smiled softly. "Yes, Harry?" she replied.

"How? Why are you so old?" he asked trying to understand what as happening.

"Well, it does happen when you are nearly 200 years of age you know," she said not moving her attention from her rune drawing. "I have a very limited span of time here Harry. Please save your questions since I cannot answer them."

The woman finished her work and looked deeply into Harry's eyes. "I have already changed this world's history simply by coming here and as I am something that does not belong, the magic of it is killing me. One favor I must ask you before I do what I must, Harry dear."

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"Talk to your Hermione when this is all over. Tell her how you feel about her. In my world, you never did and I ended up marrying someone who kept me from all that I loved. One hundred and forty years married to a fat bigot before he died and working another twenty after that to pay off the debts he saddled me with because he felt a wife's place is in the home cooking for him," she said in a quiet voice.

"Who would do that?" Harry asked fearing he knew who she was talking about.

"Never you mind who, Harry. Just let me tell you that when Ron said I fancied him back in your third year, he lied. I never was with Ron in any fashion romantically until Sixth year and barely even then. Because someone with a hyphenated name never spoke up, I settled for someone else," she finished before she leaned in and softly pecked Harry's lips.

Hermione stood and looked at the bound boy. "I am sorry Harry but this is going to hurt so I will do what I can," she said as she lifted her wand and cast a numbing charm at his scar. Once done she turned to the cauldron and looked down at the half drowned infantile homunculus. She began to gather power and spoke in a language no one else there understood.

{Let what had been made be unmade. Let that which has been sundered be made whole. Let that which was given be reclaimed. Let all that was stolen be returned. For this I freely offer my own power, my own life, my own soul. I offer all that I was in this life and would be in the next life for this boon.}

The deformed child in the cauldron screamed as the power gathered in the old woman before him struck him full on. Each object Old Hermione had tossed in rose to the surface. Tendrils of power rose and fell in the cauldron as black ichor dripped from each object into the vile liquid. Behind her, she heard Harry scream in pain as well as a line of black ichor pulled out of his scar and flew into the mix.

The tendrils all converged into a mass that surrounded the thing and it grew to man sized. The man who stood in the cauldron laughed at the crone before him.

"You failed old woman," he gloated. "Lord Voldemort is restored!"

"I failed at nothing," she cackled as she fell to her knees. Now rheumy eyes looked at him as her life went into the spell as payment for her piece of magic. "You are restored and your body is once more yours. But you forget one small detail, Tommy."

Voldemort ignored a small twinge of pain as the woman slid to the ground still focusing the last of her power and life into the ritual. The black ichor stopped flowing from Harry's scar and the objects in the cauldron.

"You forget that your body has been dead for years and with the scattered bits of your soul reclaimed, you die as I do."

"NO!" Voldemort screamed as he tried to climb from the cauldron only to be wracked in pain as his new form decomposed around him. He fell back into the cauldron as his legs shriveled under him.

Harry felt a huge pain as his scar had exploded but it grew less as the black substance pulled out of it. He actually felt invigorated as the ritual progressed. He would never know the bit of Voldemort in his scar had been draining him to keep the shade as alive and mobile for as long as it had been. Harry's magic and body had suffered as much from the curse laid on him as it had from the deprivations of the Dursley family. The ritual restored what had been taken fro him and healed him in the process. His body grew several inches in height and filled out slightly as scars and years of malnutrition vanished under the power coursing through him.

Old Hermione smiled as she saw Harry work to free himself. The growth spurt widened his arm span enough to leave slack in the ropes and he was working it up over the top of the headstone he was bound to. She closed her eyes for the last time and let herself go into oblivion; finally content that a life of regrets was worth it in the end.

It took some time but Harry got loose and made his unsteady way to the cauldron. Old Hermione's body had crumbled to dust before it leaving nothing but an empty robe. Floating in the vile liquids of the cauldron was the dried and desiccated body of Tom Riddle. Phoenix song sounded and was followed by a number of pops as wizards apparated into the area.

"Harry!" called out Albus Dumbledore as he strode up through the cemetery with a dozen aurors following behind him.

"Headmaster," as Harry's only reply as he looked back at the failed resurrection ritual.

"Eww, what's in the pot, Potter?" one auror asked.

"Voldemort," Harry replied. "Wormtail there tried to resurrect him tonight." Harry pointed at the betrayer of his parents in contempt. "But as you can see, he is still dead. He must have kept the body hidden after he betrayed my parents years ago."

Dumbledore knew more was going on than was being said but he kept quiet. He noted the trail of blood leaking from Harry's scar and added up some things in his head. Plans would need to change with new information and he needed time to adjust them.

"We should get you back to Hogwarts, Harry. People are worried about you disappearing like that."

Harry just nodded and followed.

* * *

><p>The news was a shock to the British Wizarding world. Wormtail was questioned and found to be guilty of betrayal, murder and framing Sirius Black for his crimes. The traitor also revealed that Albus Dumbledore had cast the spell which had hidden the Potters. That he allowed Sirius to languish in Azkaban while an innocent man brought out questions the old man did not wish to answer.<p>

Dumbledore and Minister Fudge tried to have the information suppressed but it got out when Harry spoke of it in public to reporters. Dumbledore fumed that he was vilified and marginalized in the process of Harry's renewed fame but Harry paid him no mind. He had scant trust for the Headmaster since the Tri Wizard tournament had begun. The fact he could have had Sirius freed with a simple statement left the teen with no faith in the man.

Once the uproar had died down and the students were on the train back to their summer vacation, Harry found a moment to follow up on a request.

"Hermione, can we talk?" he asked with hope in his voice.


	19. More Potion Fun

**More Fun with Potions**

* * *

><p>The Love Potion trope is so much fun. It came out in fan fiction mainly due to the sudden swerves of the main couple Harry nad Hermione to favor the youngest Weasleys. JKR does not really give good guidance on this but either way it is something to enjoy in your bashing.<p>

* * *

><p>Sixth year Gryffindor Harry Potter was busy eating breakfast along with his best female friend Hermione Granger in the Great Hall. They were joined by the youngest son and only daughter of the Weasley family, Ronald and Ginevra. The gingers were commonly called Ron and Ginny to their faces but the other members of the house had many less kind names for them. Ron sat down too close to Hermione while Ginny tried to sit on Harry's lap.<p>

Harry had been listening to Neville lately and he did not like what he had been hearing. Ron was bad mouthing him behind his back and saying it was only a matter of time until he 'claimed' his supposed girlfriend. As the ginger prat was seeing most of Lavender Brown several times a week, there was some doubt to the veracity of his claims. The smarmy looks the food disposal unit had been giving Hermione lent credence to the views of Neville that to paraphrase the words of the Bard, Something is rotten in the castle of Hogwarts.

The House Doorknob, as Ginny as called by most of the upper class boy's dorms when Ron was not in earshot, was smiling beatifically at Harry. She lifted her goblet of pumpkin juice as Ron did the same.

"A toast Harry. Bill and Phlegm finally set a date for their wedding. August First this summer," she said in a happy voice. "And maybe more to follow," she added suggestively.

Harry glanced over at Neville who palmed his wand and cast a detection spell at the goblets where the gingers could not see. The light haired teen shook his head no and then gestured for Harry to stall.

"Well that is good news," Harry said with a smile. "Hermione, we should drink this toast I think. I bet they need it looking at what the future holds for them in these troubled times."

Hermione knew something was up by the more formal tone of her friend. "Um, I guess so," she replied. Ron pushed her goblet closer to her so she could lift it in toast.

Neville silently performed a switching spell once all four goblets were raised. Ginny and Hermione's contents were switched along with Ron's and Harry's.

After the toasts were drunk, the ginger siblings were both getting nervous in their seats. Each kept glancing at the other and wiggling on the benches. After about ten minutes, Ginny leaned over and whispered to ron who paled dramatically. They both ran out of the Great Hall back toward the dorms.

Neville suddenly roared out in laughter to the amazement of all eating breakfast. He ended up with tears in his eyes he was laughing so hard. When he tied to tell Harry and Hermione why he was so mirthful, he could only get out bits of sentences.

" Amortentia … keyed to each ginger. Lust potion too. Powerful ones too. If they make it halfway back to the dorms of hospital wing without grabbing each other and finding a broom closet, I'll snap my own wand.

Sure enough, hours later, a disturbing sight was the ill fortune of Mister Filch to find. Ron and Ginny still rutting in a third floor closet. Neither paused and they continued even after professors were summoned and had to pry them apart with several cold water hexes. Explanations took even longer once Madame Pomfrey gave her diagnosis.

"This is a case of severe love potion poisoning. There was enough concentrated Amortentia, lust and fertility potion in their systems to dose a dozen people. Ron broke down first when he was told no meals until he told what was happening. They were trying to dose Harry and Hermione when they messed up somehow."

"Oh yes, Headmaster. You get to tell Molly Weasley that she will be a grandmother sooner than she had hoped. Weasley genetics plus fertility potion means young Ginny is already expecting. Twins at least by the early readings. You know the Ministry regulations against abortions of a magical child. I need to record all of this now before I go obliviate myself. Remembering that will give me nightmares."

* * *

><p><strong>A potion dousing done right.<strong>

(During the Horcrux hunt)

Ginny Weasley looked up from her cauldron and smiled evilly. Ron had gotten in touch with her and he thought the time was right to get 'his' Hermione. He said that life in the tent with Harry and Hermione was tight but she was starting to favor Harry over him. Ginny could not have her future husband marry some mudblood so she decided to help things along.

Her mother's potions book had the very thing. The potion Molly had snagged Arthur with back in their Hogwarts days would do nicely. It only worked on the person it was meant to so anyone else who ingested it would not even notice it. A schoolgirl could brew it after all it was not long lasting. Hermione was the victim in this case and it would have her need to have sex with the person she loved or cared for the most. A day later, a basket was hanging from Ron's owl Pig and heading to parts unknown.

As Fate is a fickle entity, that afternoon Ron did his runner and the trio was reduced to a couple. Pig was keyed to return to the tent and obediently arrived with the basket on Ron's bed and left back to the Burrow.

The remaining couple, Harry and Hermione found the basket and both grumbled loudly as did their stomachs. Ron had been complaining about not getting enough to eat but here he was getting care packages form Hogwarts. Safe to say the food did not last very long.

That night, Hermione was too wound up to sleep. Her mind kept going back to the boys in her life. She had intended to cry over Ron but she found she couldn't. She could only think of Harry and kept rubbing her thighs together as she did so. The chill of the air in the tent helped her make her decision in the end. Being alone tonight was not going to work. She took her blanket and went to Harry's room.

"I'm cold and lonely, Harry," she said in a small voice. "Let me sleep next to you. Please"

Harry could only nod in a dazed state between sleep and wakefulness as he let his long time friend cuddle in close. The dark haired teen was back sleeping before Hermione was fully settled in.

The bushy haired witch idly stroked Harry's chest and allowed her hand to slip south and found 'little Harry' was not as little as it was in second year. Her craving could only increase as she wriggled next to her best friend. She threw caution out and slipped off her sleep shorts.

Morning came all too soon. Harry found himself unable to move with a weight on his chest. His dreams the night before had been amazing and erotic to say the least. He had hoped he could get out of the bed before Hermione woke up and found his morning issue readily apparent. His vision was blocked by a mass of brown hair belonging to said Hermione. He carefully slid out to find he as lacking something over his nether regions. On the floor next to the bed were his shorts along with Hermione's.

"Come back to bed," Hermione complained in a mumble. "Not done with you yet. Need better loving than that."

Harry looked back at the half asleep witch and tried to add things up. "Hermione, why are our shorts on the floor?" he asked.

"In the way." The witch groused. "Had to get rid of them." The act of talking woke Hermione the rest of the way as the events of the previous night came to mind. As realization dawned she peered under her blanket, meeped and hid under it.

It took over an hour of coaxing before Harry understood everything that she had done the night before and the basket checked out. Someone had done something to her and it looked like Ron was the culprit. The pair talked about their feelings and came to realize they neither could truly think of the other as a sibling since neither had siblings. It took all of her will to admit it felt right when she was with Harry and 'little Harry' was doing his duty, even if Harry was out at the time.

Talking led to explorations to more talking and eventually to some confessions by both of them. They were still angry about things but they felt the potion had done something good after all. When Hermione missed her monthly, they knew something else was happening. After a visit to muggle Scotland, namely Gretna Green, they found more ways to warm their nights. The final battle at Hogwarts months later was not attended by Hermione as she had gone to Australia to wait with her parents as she could not fight with an obvious pregnancy.


	20. Random Thoughts

**Random Incomplete Thoughts**

* * *

><p>(Summer after 5th year)<p>

Dobby was researching how to help the Great Harry Potter when he discovered muggle television, specifically cable and premium channels. After weeks of research he finally had the perfect plan to get Voldemort to leave the Great Harry Potter alone.

Dobby walked up to Harry wearing a tailored pinstripe suit and spoke with a strange Italian accent. Harry Potter Sir, Dobby will get the Bad Wizards Voldemort and Dumbledore to leave the Great Harry Potter in peace."

"Oh, how are you going to do that, Dobby?" Harry replied.

"Dobby is to be making thems an offer they can't refuse," Dobby said before popping out.

The next morning matching shouts of fear and panic were heard were heard coming from Hogwarts and Malfoy Manor. Voldemort had awakened to find Nagini's head in his bed while Dumbledore had found what looked like Fawkes'.

Dobby gave a 'high wing' to the phoenix who decided that a long holiday away from that old wanker was worth the sacrifice of a peacock for 'the Greater Good'.

* * *

><p>(Any point after the first term at Hogwarts)<p>

draco looked on smugly as he had insulted the Scarhead and his Mudblood once more while the teachers merely looked on doing nothing.

"You know Malfoy, you have got to be the most Gryffindor person in the castle," Harry said after a pause. "I mean that seriously you know. You have no tact, no cunning, Oh you have plenty of ambition but it is to go running to your father when something doesn't go your way. That is something most everyone else with parents stopped doing at roughly age 5. Then you have the stones to think your actions will not have any repercussions at all for you. You must realize that is what it takes to be a Gryffindor"

"I admit it could be a plot to throw everyone off and if so I must say it is working quite well. But I wonder how well your fellow Slytherins will react when they think about it and realize how badly mis-sorted you really were."

Draco's power in Slytherin house would never recover and Harry was able to eat in peace after that.

* * *

><p>(Fifth Year)<p>

Draco is taunting the Gryffindors in the Great Hall at mealtime again.

"The Dark Lord is going to teach you your place, Potter. You will live long enough to bow down to your betters," Draco bragged.

"Oh, like your dad does to the Dark Wanker? I bet you would love to be in his position," Harry retorted.

"When my time comes I will gladly take my father's place in the Dark Lord's ranks and do whatever is required of me," Draco boasted again.

Hermione got a wicked idea. She had palmed her wand while Draco was talking. She focused as much power as she could and murmured a custom hex and transformation.

"Let me give you a hand then, Malfoy," she calmly said before Draco's attire changed.

His expensive robes changed to a mesh t-shirt, leather male posing thong, chaps and kneepads. His tie and shirt changed to a bib that read 'Service Boy'. The entire Great Hall roared with laughter at the sight.

"Brilliant Hermione," Harry exclaimed. "Attire suited to his place for kneeling before a Dark Wanker, knee pads so he can fulfill any ahem 'needs' ahem his place might require fulfilling. And the bib to keep the dribble off. That was quite kind of you to add that Hermione. Mesh is a devil to get stains out of and not ruin in the wash."

Hermione smiled graciously and nodded her head in acknowledgement.

Draco tried to say something but he just blushed heavily and ran from the Great Hall. Even Snape could not do anything as he fought back laughter of his own. Dumbledore looked on with interest but said nothing and smiled wistfully as if picturing something else.

The final insult came when each time that Draco would enter the Great hall for the next week, whatever clothes he was wearing would transform into that outfit.

* * *

><p>(At Bill and Fleur's Wedding)<p>

Harry had been troubled ever since the Dark Mark had been cast over Hogwarts. The mere sight of it had thrown all the DA members and teaching staff into a funk. It was as if the Death Eaters had won before the battle was even over. He spent hours thinking nad planning on what he should do if he ever saw it again.

The patronus warning from Kingsley came too late and the Death Eaters were blocking apparition and portkey travel out of the Burrow. The Weasley clan and guests are holding off the Death Eaters as they cannot flee but they cannot find the fortitude to fight hard enough. One enterprising Death Eater recruit casts the Morsmordre over the Burrow to cow the resistance.

Harry sees the green cloud billowing out and the skull and snake having a negative effect on the morale of the magicals there. He turns his own wand to the sky and shouts out his own enchantment.

"Maruadermordre!"

A bluish gray cloud formed next to the green and took on a unique shape. The body was that of a half transformed werewolf but more bulky and muscular like the muggle movies portrayed. It was wearing fitted clothes, a leather jacket with the name 'Maruaders' was stitched on the back. A wallet chain hung from its waist that had a dead rat at the end. The head was that of a Grim that somehow seemed to be smiling. Antlers rose from the top of its head and had a chain of lilies woven on them.

The amalgam creature reached out to the skull and grasped it in one taloned hand. The other hand took hold of the snake and pulled it from the skull. The creature then bit down on the head of the snake and with a twist of its head ripped the head off the body. Then the hand holding the skull crushed it to fragments.

The Maruader then spat out the snake head and seemed to smile wider before it appeared to laugh like the muggle cartoon dog, Muttley. It then dissipated with its work done.

Both sides had stopped to watch this in awe but Harry took the initiative at the confused Death Eaters. He launched a series of bombarda hexes into the thick of them and injured several. The Weasley clan took up the fight after that and routed the attack with the Death Eaters fleeing from the counterattack.


	21. Vernon the Hero

Harry Potter glared silently at his bedroom wall as he tried to think of what to do about the lack of information he was receiving from his friends. He managed to get over his feelings of seeing Cedric dying in front of him by writing all of his feelings in a plain notebook that doubles as a journal. Now he painstakingly combed the news and daily paper for anything that might indicated Voldemort. He had even sent a note to Hermione four days previous asking simply what she was having for dinner that night. Hedwig did not return but he did receive an owl from Dumbledore saying that he had placed the owl under Hagrid's care until Harry returned to Hogwarts on September 1.

That settled any doubts in his mind that the old man had gone too far. Now he just needed to think about an appropriate response.

"Boy, get down here and get your chores done!" his Uncle Vernon shouted. Harry sighed and left his room to go weed the flowerbeds and prune the bushes.

Harry had finished the weeding first and was going to the shed to get the rose snips when the smells of unwashed body and alcohol reached his nose. He followed the odor behind the shed in the yard and heard a light snoring sound coming from behind it. He looked but saw nothing but the sound was coming from a flattened area in the grass.

The scarred teen narrowed his eyes as he carefully felt the ground until his fingers found the edge of a cloak and carefully lifted and opened it. The smell of body odor increased as the sleeping man was revealed. He had no clue whom this vile person was but he knew it was a wizard and likely a guard of some kind. He knew that if Uncle Vernon saw this man, Harry would pay the price for the person even being on the property.

But then an evil idea crossed Harry's chain of thought. He slowly smiled as years of knowing how his Uncle thought paid off. After deftly pulling back the invisibility cloak mostly off the soundly sleeping man he placed the rose snips beside the sleeping form. He turned and silently walked back into the house.

"Why are you inside boy?" Vernon Dursley asked as he looked up from his television viewing.

"Uncle Vernon, do we still have your old cricket bat in the garage? We have a trespasser in the yard and I was hoping to shoo him off," Harry stated as he looked at the door to the garage.

"Trespasser?" Vernon asked with a snarl.

"Yes, Uncle Vernon. I know no wizard will take a person seriously without a stick in your hand so I figured the cricket bat might work instead of a wand," Harry said in an offhand manner.

"One of your sort? Trespassing on my property?" Vernon almost bellowed.

"Drunk and sleeping it off as well. What would the neighbors think when they catch wind of him? He must not have bathed in weeks."

Vernon was up and out of his chair and opening the garage door as if he had apparated. He was back with bat in hand before Harry could even enter the garage after him.

"If anyone is going to shoo one of your sort off my property it is going to be ME!" Vernon stated fiercely as he strode into the yard.

Harry pointed out the sleeping form to Vernon who grew more and more red in the face as he looked on. A Freak was sleeping in HIS yard. Not only that, the Freak was stinking up the place and in plain sight of #6 if they had looked over the hedge.

"Aren't those your good rose snips next to him, Uncle Vernon? I was looking for those to prune Aunt Petunia's roses just now," Harry whispered from behind his uncle.

Vernon Dursley was not the most charitable of men at times. He was not going to abide a thief in his yard taking his things in the slightest. He was tempted to swing at the man's head and lay it open but that might lead to too many questions from the police so he rapped the sleeping man with a hard blow to the thigh instead.

The man awoke instantly with a cry of pain. He tried to jump to his feet but found himself unable to stand with his badly bruised leg.

"Hey, what's all this then?" he called out bleary eyed and focused on Vernon. "Oh, you're going to pay for that Muggle."

The man then fumbled in his over sized coat and dropped a few pieces of jewelry as he tried to get his wand.

Vernon smiled like the Grinch planning to steal Christmas. He had been threatened and this man was dropping stolen property at the same time. It would be self defense in anyone's eyes.

"Bowler," Vernon said with a chuckle as he swung the bat right into the wizard's nose.

* * *

><p><strong>London Times<strong>

**Local Man Captured Serial Burglar**.

Little Winging, Surrey. July 23, 1995 In Little Winging a local man, Vernon Dursley, captured a man wanted in connection with a long string of burglaries in the Greater London area. Numerous closed circuit television recordings provided to the police show the as yet unidentified man stealing from jewelry stores and other places of business around the city.

Mr. Dursley said when asked that he was simply defending his home from a trespasser who was long unwashed and reeking of alcohol and sleeping in his yard. When he woke the man, Mr. Dursley said he was threatened and struck down the trespasser in self defense. The story was backed up by his nephew whose name was withheld as he is a minor and a neighbor who looked over the fence when he heard shouting.

Police were grateful to Mr. Dursley for his actions and intend to give the man the posted reward by several businesses for the capture and arraignment of the burglar. The local prosecutor claims a strong case and sees little to impede a swift conviction.

Well Done Mr. Dursley.


	22. Another GoF

**Another Alternate Goblet**

"Harry Potter," called out the Headmaster of Hogwarts Albus Dumbledore.

Harry looked on in shock but not total disbelief. Each year on Halloween something happened to him. First year had been the troll. Second year was the basilisk. Last year it was his godfather Sirius Black. He half expected his name earlier as the Hogwarts champion but when Cedric's name had been called he let out a breath he had not even realized he was holding.

"Harry Potter," called out Dumbledore a second time.

The assembled students were also beginning to make noise. His best male friend Ron Weasley was already red faced and about to explode. The boy's face shifted in emotion from anger to jealousy to contempt and could not settle on one. His best female friend, Hermione Granger looked concerned and confused in his direction.

"I didn't put my name in, you know I didn't," he said to his friends.

"Go on," she whispered in an uncertain voice not daring to say more or go against a teacher.

Harry wanted to start banging his head on the table but he needed to think. Single words reached his ears; 'cheat' was prominent in what he heard as he slowly stood to look at the Headmaster standing by the Goblet of Fire. A part of him wanted to whine but his pride kicked in for the first time and he stood tall.

"I did not enter my name for the Tri-Wizard Tournament, Headmaster," Harry said in a loud clear voice. His tone was steady but his mind was racing.

"Your name came out, Harry. Please go after the other champions into the other room," Dumbledore said in his own measured tone.

Harry hated that tone with a passion. It was patronizing and commanding at the same time. It was one that was used on students … no … on children and expecting to being obeyed. In fact, Dumbledore was already beginning to turn to head for the room himself when Harry spoke again.

"Headmaster, I did not enter myself into the Tournament. Someone else must have placed my name in there without my consent," Harry stated in a loud voice.

Dumbledore paused and turned back to face Harry fully. The students' voices were growing louder and someone from the Hufflepuff table yelled out 'Cheater'"

"Your name did come out, Harry. We can discuss this in the other room," the old man said in his normal almost unflappable plaid tone. The man's eyes twinkled as they always seemed to do when he looked someone else in the eye.

Harry noticed the Headmaster did not say anything else. He also did not say anything to support Harry's claim that he didn't enter. Only Dumbledore speaking in the same tone with the same damned eye twinkle. Harry began getting a small headache from nowhere.

The murmurs were getting hostile around him the longer he waited.

Harry looked down to take a few deep breaths to calm himself. They seemed to work as his headache dimmed almost immediately. He began to slowly walk up to the front of the room with all the students looking at him. His mind raced for something, anything he could think of to figure this situation out.

Every year it was something trying to get him killed; troll, basilisk, Dementors, cursed books, traps guarding a stone. Yes he ran headlong into several on his own but he had good reasons. There was never any help in any of those situations. That thought caused him to drop his head. He never had help for anything. It was always just him. The staff which was supposed to protect and guide was conspicuously absent from each of his trials. Some even participated in trying to kill him.

Inwardly, he sneered. He had grown to expect that very attitude from teachers and authority figures all of his life. The teachers at Little Whinging Primary had all seen him and all never did anything about his situation with the Dursleys. His cousin was large as a baby killer whale and tiny Harry was supposed to be the bully and the one making trouble? Harry wore clothes 3 sizes too big and had broken glasses most of the time and _he_ was the one making trouble?

He hoped Hogwarts would be different but it was always the same. Your house is like your family Mcgonagall had said first year. Well from the way they treated him here, he could easily compare them to the Dursleys. He could count on one hand with fingers left over the number of people who had not turned on him at some point. Ron got snarky and jealous all the time Harry wanted to do something that Ron didn't. Even Hermione had turned on him over the Firebolt even though she had the best of intentions at the time.

He peered up at Dumbledore though his bangs and was shocked. The man's eyes still twinkled but there was a harder edge to them. The barest hint of a smile touched the corner of his mouth. His mind flashed to an American show he had seen bits of on the telly. The same smirk on the face of a man saying 'I love it when a plan comes together'.

* * *

><p>Harry tuned out most of the debate from the adults as his thoughts raced. He denied his entry into the Tournament again and was told that as his name had come out he was bound by magical contract to compete or face losing his magic. Moody finally suggested he was entered by someone else in an attempt to kill him.<p>

Harry moved his gaze over the other people at the room looking for any support. The other school's Headmaster and Headmistress both looked angry at the fourth name being called. McGonagall looked somewhat angry and confused. Moody looked almost smug. Barty Crouch was blank faced. Ludo Bagman looked positively gleeful. Snape simply sneered at him as normal. Dumbledore simply stood there twinkling. He would be getting no help from them.

When he left Cedric tried to get Harry to tell him how he had gotten his name in and Harry just denied once more but he knew Cedric did not believe him. The Gryffindor common room was worse. Claiming to be tired he went upstairs and after an encounter with Ron being a prat, he crawled into his bed. He found couldn't sleep so after midnight he snuck out with his invisibility cloak and headed for the library. He needed to know about contracts.

* * *

><p>It was near dawn when he finally gave up his search. The card catalog said the library had books but he could not find any books on contracts, magical or otherwise. It slowly dawned on him he had similar happenings before. First year, they scoured the library for information on Nicholas Flammel and found nothing. A person as famous as that should have had several books written about his accomplishments. On a hunch, he consulted the card catalog again and then the shelves. A half dozen books were on a shelf and he looked at the first. It was decades old and he looked over the check out information. Dozens of dates were listed including August 29, 1991. The return date for the book then was July 1, 1992. The book had been checked out his entire first year! The rest of the books showed similar dates. Working faster, he referenced basilisks and found several references and books on the shelves with check out dates spanning his second year. He frowned as no student could have checked out the books on Flammel or basilisks. Taking deep breaths to calm his nerves and fuzzy headed from a lack of sleep, he slowly walked down to the grounds.<p>

He walked around the lake in the cold pre dawn and he thought about his information. Someone checked out the books he could have used each year before the year started. That means they knew in advance what was going to happen. Now add in the traps protecting the Philosopher's Stone. Plants were Neville's forte. The keys and the broom meant for Harry. Chess meant for Ron. Logic meant for Hermione. Then Dumbledore taking a BROOM of all things to London so Quirrel would know he had time without Dumbledore around. It was all a set up. He could see that clearly now.

Events flowed together as he thought on what he knew and now suspected. Information he would need mysteriously missing when he needed it but finding something just in time. Hagrid suddenly drops critical information that allowed the puzzle to be solved. All his information pointed to one person behind all the scenes. In Hogwarts there was only one person that could be; Dumbledore. An image of the old man sitting at a chessboard came to mind. Harry hurried back to the library before he would head for breakfast.

* * *

><p>Harry made his way into the Great Hall still under his cloak and stood in a corner to wait. Students and teachers came in and began to eat at the appointed time. Harry noticed Hermione looking frantic as she grabbed a stack of toast in a napkin and hurried back out. He waited until Dumbledore had come in and watched closely. Students were discussing Harry rather vocally and calling him all sorts of things loud enough for the staff to hear.<p>

The Headmaster simply ate his breakfast as he normally did but made no announcement about Harry. The old man was allowing the speculation of cheating to run rampant and this hardened Harry for what he planned to do. He slipped off his invisibility cloak and stepped out into the center of the Hall and pulled out his wand. There would be no going back now.

"I, Harry James Potter do swear an oath on my magic that I in no way entered myself nor did I ask anyone to enter my name into the Goblet of Fire and the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Let my magic be stripped from me should I declare this oath falsely," he stated loud enough for all to hear. He then spoke a phrase to self bind his oath. His magic flared as his oath sealed around him. Harry then cast his Patronus which galloped the length of the Great Hall.

Dumbledore stood up as Harry began to walk out of the Hall to stop at the doorway. He turned back and looked at the people sitting there.

"The Headmaster told us that the Tri-Wizard Tournament is a binding magical contract but I never entered myself into it. I wondered how I could be bound by it so I went to the library. Strange how all the books on contracts are missing from the shelves. Two years ago all the books that mention creatures that paralyze people were missing then and Herbology that year grew mandrakes that take eight months to mature. They are a key ingredient in a potion to cure a person frozen by a glimpse of a basilisk so they are commercially avaialable. Something is not right with that."

"I, Harry James Potter, do swear on my magic that I shall not participate in any fashion in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Let my magic be stripped from me should I be forsworn or revoke this Oath." Harry then spoke the self binding oath and his magic flared even brighter than it had earlier as this oath took effect.

Dumbledore had a shocked look on his face. "Harry, what have you done? You cannot take that oath back!"

"Check, Headmaster. Your Move," Harry said in a cold voice as he left the doorway and allowed the doors to close behind him.

* * *

><p>Just another GoF idea with a more world weary Harry who is not quite as innocent as portrayed in the books. One plot point or plot hole in the first book is the lack of information available in the Hogwarts library about an important historical figure like Flammel and in the second on about what creatures can paralyze people. What should have taken an afternoon of casual research took months of digging to find the tiniest of references. Coincidentally the Herbology class started growing the very thing they need to cure anyone without a need to contact outside sources before it was even known it would be needed [plot hole]. There was an idea I read in a short by twilliams1797 about Harry seeing an ad for mandrake for a mere seven galleons and immediately available by mail order.<p> 


	23. Two out of Three Ain't Bad

It had taken months of Dobby wearing down Harry's resistance to a potential bonding. Hermione kept her disapproval of the idea but she was worn down as well.

"Fine," she huffed removing the final barrier to Dobby's plan to be Harry's elf.

This left Harry in a bad position. He knew Hermione disapproved but he needed to get Dobby to stop with his pestering. It took a lot of thought but even he grinned and chuckled almost evilly at his final plan.

"Dobby, I would prefer you remain free and simply be my friend but if you want to be my bonded elf there are a few rules I would expect you to follow. If you agree to all three then I will bond with you," Harry stated.

Dobby was nearly leaving the ground as he was bouncing with joy as Harry stood tall in front of him.

"First, as my elf you will comport yourself well at all times. No more whining or wailing if something goes wrong or unexpected. You are British after all. You should act like it."

Dobby stopped bouncing at the first rule. This was unexpected. Most masters loved to hear their elves cringe and cower before their might.

"Dobby can do that Master Harry Potter Sir," Dobby agreed in a soft reluctant voice.

Harry nodded. "Good. Second, no elf of mine will be seen looking slovenly or unkempt. You will no longer wear rags or pillowcases but rather a smart and tidy uniform similar to a butler or similar British domestic."

Dobby looked downcast at the second rule. House elves were never required to wear clothes or uniforms of any kind. All Magical masters did not want their servants to think they were in any way equal to their overlords. The other elves would look at him strangely if he wore fine garments like a wizard would.

A downcast Dobby slowly nodded after a brief delay.

"Dobby can do that, Master Harry Potter Sir," the elf said with a reluctant tone in his voice.

Harry nodded a second time. Then his face turned grim and he looked down at Dobby.

"Third and most important is in regards to any punishments. I will not tolerate any masochism fetish in my elf, Dobby. I suffered abuse myself for a decade and I will not have it inflicted on anyone else."

"For any punishment you will be required to stand in a corner facing the wall in what the military call the At Ease position. You will not do anything but stand there. You may not even THINK of working while being punished as that will bring further punishment. It will be for 5 minutes on a first offense and increase 5 minutes with each additional need for punishment. If you go a week without needing to be punished it will revert to the original 5 minutes but never below."

"If I find you physically abused yourself I will immediately dismiss you from my service forever," Harry said in a quiet voice.

Harry looked down at Dobby and waited after he spoke his rules. The elf had been uneasy from the beginning but the poor creature looked downright terrorized now.

Dobby was nearly cowering as he replied. "Great and Powerful Harry Potter Sir is a dark and imposing master with evil and harsh punishments. Dobby would do anything for Harry Potter Sir, but Dobby won't do that," the elf spoke in a whisper.

The elf popped away after that as quickly s his magic could take him. Harry looked over at a shocked Hermione and lifted one eyebrow while smirking lightly.

"Oh well, two out of three ain't bad," he said before smiling.

Hermione groaned at the bad pun and smacked Harry on the shoulder.

* * *

><p>To quote Monty, 'I'm not dead!'. This is actually the first thing I have been able to write to completion since my last post here. I am trying but the will is fading as work will not give an inch and drains me mentally each day. I decided just paying the bills is not enough anymore. A new job search is underway and outlines have begun to expand on the Naruto stories so to people who follow me, I thank you for your patience.<p>

Ed


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